1 Jul 2019
DEBRECEN (Hungary) - Twenty-four teams from 16 different countries qualified for the 5th edition of the FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup, which will take place in Debrecen, Hungary on August 30 - September 1.
The hosts (Hungary), the reigning champs (Serbia's men and France's women) and the 8 best teams in the FIBA 3x3 Federation Ranking (Ukraine, Russia, Netherlands and France for men, Ukraine, Russia, Netherlands and Latvia for women) already had their tickets to Hungary.
The last 12 seats to Debrecen were up for grab in 3 Qualifiers over the weekend in Constanta (Romania), Kyiv (Ukraine) and Riga (Latvia).
While some of the favorites lived up to the hype (World Cup silver and bronze medalists Latvia and Poland in the men's category, World Cup 2018 winners Italy and former Europe Cup silver medalists Romania and Spain on the women's side), some missed the train to Hungary.
Two former Europe Cup winners were eliminated in qualification (Romania and Slovenia's men). World Cup 2016 winners Czech Republic are also out in the women's category.
This obviously left room for some surprises. Denmark will make their 1st ever appearance at the Europe Cup after their women's team beat Sweden in a do-or-die game in Ukraine. Speaking of debuts, Austria's men, Germany's men and Poland's women also made it to Debrecen. Lithuania's men are back 5 years after winning the bronze medal in the 1st edition of the Europe Cup in Bucharest.
All participating teams:
Women: Belarus, Denmark, France (reigning champs), Hungary (hosts), Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Ukraine
Men: Austria, France, Germany, Hungary (hosts), Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Serbia (reigning champs), Spain, Ukraine
Qualifiers Top 5 Scorers (per game, from teams which qualified):
Women
1. Aitana Cuevas (Spain): 8.3 ppg
2. Natallia Dashkevich (Belarus): 7 ppg
- Sonia Ursu (Romania): 7 ppg
4. Rae Lin D'Alie (Italy): 6.3 ppg
5. Ancuta Stoenescu (Romania): 5 ppg
Men
1. Przemyslaw Zamojski (Poland): 8.4 ppg
2. Paulius Beliavicius (Lithuania): 7.8 ppg
3. Nauris Miezis (Latvia): 7.5 ppg
4. Karlis Lasmanis (Latvia) : 7.3 ppg
5. Michael Hicks (Poland) : 6.8 ppg
FIBA