29 Oct 2017
ULAANBAATAR (FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2017) - Mongolia’s men and Australia’s women won gold in the second edition of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2017 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on October 29 2017.
In their 1st appearance at the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup, the Australian women left their mark as they went on an impressive 5-0 record at the Crocus Event Hall in the Mongolian capital.
16-year-old Isabell Bourne started her first game with only 1 point but from then on took off. She scored a total of 34 points throughout the tournament including 7 in a close semi-final match-up against China. The tournament MVP scored 8 in the final game and got a little help from Carlie Smith (7 points) for the win over Malaysia (21-15).
China secured bronze in a win over India 21-16 thanks to tournament top scorer Jinxian Wang. Wang joined Bourne and shoot-out contest winner and 3rd overall top scorer Fook Yee Yap (Malaysia) on the Team of the Tournament.
In the men’s category, the Mongolian hosts had a tough route to the final. In the semi-final that went to overtime, they beat an impressive Australian team who had made their way through the tournament from the Day 1 qualifying draw.
Mongolia met New Zealand in the final and turned on theatrics for the home crowd. The atmosphere was electric as the two teams remained within almost 2 points throughout the game. Mongolia pulled away in the final minutes and won 19-14, thanks to the play-making of MVP Dulguun Enkhbat and the scoring of Tsenguunbayar Gotov. New Zealand’s Alonzo Burton also made it to the Team of the Tournament.
For the bronze medal, Australia met a red-hot Anton Kotenko (Kazakhstan), who was a scoring machine with 47 total points. Australia took an early lead but Kotenko was not ready for the party to end. He brought Kazakhstan within striking distance. However, Lucas Parker combined with Owen Odgie to earn the bronze medal for Australia.
In the shoot-out contest, Yap won gold, Jiabin Zhang (China) took sliver and Zalina Kurazova (Kazakhstan) came in third.
Final standings of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2017:
Men
1.Mongolia
2.New Zealand
3.Australia
4.Kazakhstan
5.China
6.Chinese Taipei
7.Kyrgyzstan
8.Japan
9.India
10. Qatar
11. Sri Lanka
12. Bahrain
13.Malaysia
14. Lebanon
15. Turkmenistan
Women
1.Australia
2.Malaysia
3.China
4.India
5.Mongolia
6.New Zealand
7.Turkmenistan
8.Kazakhstan
9.Chinese Taipei
10.Kyrgyzstan
11. Sri Lanka
12. Qatar
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ABOUT FIBA 3x3
Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world’s number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.
It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly city-based FIBA 3x3 World Tour (www.fiba.basketball/3x3worldtour) and national-team FIBA 3x3 World Cup.
On June 9 2017, 3x3 was addded to the Olympic Program, starting from the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Nike is FIBA 3x3's Founding Partner.
FIBA 3x3 events are played on Sport Court's floors with Schelde backstops and Magic Sky canopies, and benefit from Wilson's innovative and specially-made ball for 3x3.
For further information about 3x3, visit fiba3x3.basketball, FIBA 3x3 accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube or contact 3x3@fiba.com.