8 Oct 2018
PENANG (FIBA 3x3 World Tour 2018) - The race for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Bloomage Beijing Final is coming to a head with the final Masters of the season in Penang on October 13-14 2018.
Novi Sad Al Wahda (SRB), Liman TeslaVoda (SRB) , and Ljubljana (SLO) guaranteed their spot to the Final through winning a Masters. Will another team win a Masters title and guarantee a berth? Or can a contending team gain enough points to take the 12th spot?
In Penang, Piran (SLO), Zemun (SRB), and Princeton (USA) have all but guaranteed their trip to the Final.
The contenders
Both Ralja Intergalactic (SRB) and Delhi 3BL (IND) have 80 points in the World Tour Standings and need 40 points to overtake Belgrade for the twelfth spot. Provided that no team outside the top 12 standings win this Masters. The teams outside of the Top 12 WT standings are as follows: Tokyo (JPN), Dongguan MC (CHN), Taoyuan Absolute33 (TPE), Kranj (SLO), Tachikawa (JPN), The Hague (NED), NY Harlem 3BALL USA (USA), or Melbourne i-Athletic (AUS).
It will be no easy task for Delhi (IND) to qualify for Day 2 as they are in same pool as last year's World Tour winner Zemun (SRB) and the upcoming Australian team Melbourne i-Athletic. Melbourne is appearing on the World Tour for the 2nd time this season and they bring 2 members of the gold medal FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup team .
Pool B will also have a dog fight for a WT-Final place. Edmonton Challenger winners NY Harlem now have 50 points on WT Standings they need a third place or better finish in order to have a chance to qualify for the final. Meanwhile, Chengdu Master's 4th place finisher The Hague need to once again finish in the Top 4 to have a hope to qualify for the Final. We will need to see a lot more monster dunks from Hieronymus van der List if that is going to happen! Also this is provided that Delhi 3BL, Ralja Intergalactic each finish eighth or worse and no team outside the Top 12 standings win!
Pool A will have number 1 seed Team Liman Tesla Voda (SRB) who will look to earn their third World Tour Masters of the 2018 season. Kranj (SLO) and Tachikawa (JPN) will compete for the 2nd spot in the pool.
You can follow the livestream Saturday and Sunday on FIBA 3x3's official YouTube channel.