29 Oct 2017
BEIJING (FIBA 3x3 World Tour) - Zemun Master (SRB) won the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Bloomage Beijing Final 2017 after defeating Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE) in a heart-breaking final in the Chinese capital on October 29.
With the game tied at 17 and the 12-second shot-clock running out, 27-year-old Bogdan Dragovic buried a desperation off-balance two-pointer from the 3x3 logo, that sent the Chinese crowd at the Wukesong Hi-Up shopping mall on its feet.
The number one 3x3 team in the world Novi Sad Al Wahda could not get a shot off in time and lost 19-17, the end of an unbelievable 11-game winning streak in title games for them at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour.
Dragovic aka 'The Dragon' - who was named MVP of the event - had a team-high 7 for Zemun Master while sharpshooter Lazar Rasic added 6 and Marko Dugosija and Nikola Vukovic contributed 3 points apiece.
The team had never won a single World Tour event before the Bloomage Beijing Final. Twice this year they had lost in the championship game, both at the Chengdu and the Mexico City Masters. However this year was the year of the Dragon.
It was a crushing defeat for Novi Sad Al Wahda, who dominated the regular season (3 titles in 7 Masters) and were looking to win their 3rd World Tour title and had annihilated two of their biggest rivals Liman (SRB) and Piran (SLO) in previous rounds.
Dusan Domovic Bulut had a game-high 8 points in the final and Dejan Majstorovic added 4. The number one 3x3 player in the world led all players in scoring at the event (39).
In the individual competitions, Rafal 'Lipek' Lipinski (Poland) became FIBA 3x3 World Tour Dunk Champ for an amazing 5th time while Saskatoon marksman Steve Sir won the Shoot-Out Contest.
The sixth edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour featured 7 Masters, starting on 15-16 July in Saskatoon, Canada also stopping in Utsunomiya, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Chengdu and Mexico City. The Final saw the winners of all Masters and the rest of the teams, which finished in the Top 12 in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour season standings.
Zemun Master took home the US $40,000 winning prize. The top four teams collected prize money, which doubled in 2017 to reach US $600,000 in the entire 3x3 professional season.
Final Standings of Bloomage Beijing Final
1. Zemun Master (SRB)
2. Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE)
3. Piran (SLO)
4. Riga (LAT)
5. Ljubljana (SLO)
6. Liman (SRB)
7. Lausanne (SUI)
8. Kranj (SLO)
9. Humpolec (CZE)
10. Belgrade (SRB)
11. Krakow R8 Basket (POL)
12. Saskatoon (CAN)
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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.