5 Jul 2019
POITIERS (France) – The #1 team in the Women’s Series standings is hosting the 3rd stop of the competition, featuring some of its biggest rivals in Poitiers on July 5-6, 2019.
Just 2 weeks after winning the bronze medal at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup, France are back on the 3x3 circuit, with only one change on the roster. The cat-quick Caroline Hériaud replaces sharpshooter Laëtitia Guapo. You may remember the diminutive Hériaud from her MVP performance last year at the FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League.
Les Bleues currently sit on top of the Women’s Series standings. After a disappointing start in Chengdu (5th), they bounced back by defeating Italy in the final of the Turin Stop 3 weeks ago.
Italy will once again be France’s biggest threat. No doubt, the 2018 world champions will be keen to beat France to avenge not only the Turin loss but also the slap in the face they got in the World Cup 2019 quarter-finals in Amsterdam 2 weeks ago.
Speaking of Amsterdam, the Netherlands will be another team to watch this week. History will remember that the Orange Lions lost in the pool stage of their World Cup in 2019 but hopefully people will also take note that they lost to the 2 eventual finalists, China and Hungary. The Bettonvil sisters are back with 2 former Youth Olympics silver medalists, Esther Fokke and Fleur Kuijt.
Former Olympian Katherine Plouffe will once again lead Team Canada on the Women’s Series but this time without her twin sister Michelle, who broke a finger during their semi-final run in Turin.
Don’t sleep on the 2016 world champions Czech Republic and 3 teams who qualified for the FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup during the qualifiers last weekend, Belarus, Poland and Romania.
The new Women’s Series sees teams representing their national federation and 8-12 events are expected to take place this year. There are more than 8 teams participating at the Women's Series meaning that the teams are different at each event. They qualify for individual stops based on the number of events they have already been allocated to and their team ranking.
Follow the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series Poitiers Stop live on the official FIBA 3x3 YouTube channel.