1 Jul 2021
TEL AVIV (Israel) - The French came to Tel Aviv to dominate.
Over three stops, both the French men’s and women’s U23 teams won two out of three stops in the first action of the Europe-America conference.
Here are the standings after Stop 3:
Men
France: 270 pts
Israel: 230 pts
Spain: 210 pts
Netherlands: 205 pts
Israel 2: 150 pts
Great Britain: 150 pts
Women
France: 280 pts
Netherlands: 250 pts
Spain: 195 pts
Great Britain: 180 pts
Israel: 170 pts
Israel 2: 140 pts
On the women’s side at Stop 1, France defeated Spain in the final, 11-5 after going perfect in Pool B. They once again made it to the winner’s circle at Stop 2, defeating The Netherlands in a tight contest, 11-9. The Dutch were able to get their revenge at Stop 3, winning Pool A and facing off against France once again in the final. This time, they would come out on top, winning 11-7. The Netherlands featured two players (in Ilse Kuijt and Noortje Driessen) who represented their country at the recent FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Graz, Austria.
The men’s field was also dominated by France early on, with a convincing finals win over The Netherlands, 18-12. Israel rose to the occasion in Stop 2, defeating France in Pool B with a Buzzer-Beater to earn a spot in the final. The underdog side then went on to defeat the Netherlands, which made their second straight final. It was once again a French victory at Stop 3, running the table and defeating Spain 17-11 to walk away with the lead in the standings.
Top overall scorers
Men
1. Jules Rambaut (France) 50pts
2. Guy Palatin (Israel) 41
3. Tosan Evbuomwan (Great Britain) 36
4. Shoham Gat (Israel) 34
5. Timothé Vergiat (France) 33
Women
1. Noortje Driessen (Netherlands) 39
2. Dor Saar (Israel 2) 36
3. Loren Christie (Great Britain) 26
- Ilse Kuijt (Netherlands) 26
5. Hortense Limouzin (France) 25
- Camille Droguet (France) 25
- Zoë Slagter (Netherlands) 25
The action doesn’t stop in Israel. The U23 Nations League will continue in Slovakia (July 6-8) and Lithuania (July 15-17) for more summer 3x3.
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The 4th edition of the competition has the best future 3x3 players representing their country in preparation for future international competitions.
A record twenty-six different national federations registered both their men and women’s teams for the FIBA U23 Nations League 2021, with teams being allocated in 5 different conferences:
Africa: Algeria, Algeria U21, Egypt, Niger
Asia: Japan, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand
Europe-America: Spain, France, Great Britain, Israel, Netherlands, USA
Europe 1: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Slovakia
Europe 2: Belarus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine.
FIBA