2023 All-African Games: Algeria, Mali are the new 3x3 Champions

ACCRA (Ghana) – Team Algeria, men and Team Mali, women are the new 3x3 champions of the 13th edition of the All-African Games, which came to a close at the weekend, ending the reign of 2019 winners Madagascar and Nigeria respectively.

The event - held at the courts of the University of Accra, Ghana -  had 16 teams for men and 14 teams for women.

Find below of a recap of the 2023 All-African Games 3x3 tournaments:

ALGERIA STUN HOSTS

In the Men's final, host Ghana squared up against Algeria in a tense encounter that saw the North African nation coming on top with a 16-11 win in the gold medal game.

To reach the final, Algeria stopped Uganda 21-14 in the Semi-Finals and had earlier ended the hopes of Rwanda 21-14 in the Quarter-Finals.

On the part of the host nation, Ghana edged out Burkina Faso 21-19 in a grueling encounter that had many fans at the edge of their seats and defeated Bostwana 18-8 in the Semi-Finals.

In the Third-Place game for bronze, Uganda posted a 17-11 win over Bostwana to make their efforts count.

Other countries that competed in the 2023 All-African Games 3x3 men's tournament included Egypt, Cote dIvoire, Rwanda, Central Africa, Madagascar, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Uganda, Congo DR, Kenya and Zambia

MALI SHUT DOWN NIGERIA

In a repeat of the 2019 final, defending champions Nigeria and Mali faced off again but this time around Nigeria had their dreams of retaining their title cut short as Mali got a sweet revenge over them.

Mali was the dominant side as they took gold with a 21-11 win over Nigeria. They had cut short Benin 17-15 in the Semi-Finals and a slim 21-20 win over Egypt in the Quarter-Finals while Nigeria’s journey to the final was marked with a 15-13 win in Over Time against the DR Congo in the Semi-Final and eliminating host Ghana by 19-17 in overtime at the Quarter-Final stage.

Other countries that took part in the event are Madagascar, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Comoros, Congo DR, Algeria, Uganda, Togo and Ethiopia.

SHOOT OUT & DUNK CONTESTS

There was the shoot out event too that saw Egypt's Habiba Mahmoud Elgizawi coming tops with 11 points in a time of 56 seconds.

The second place went to Burkina Faso's Abdoul Samire Quattara with 6 points in a time of 54 seconds and Ghana's Hannah Owusua Boadu with 6 points in 56 seconds while Zayd D.Yahiaoul of Algeria scored 4 points in 54 seconds to place 4th.

For the Dunk Contest, Mohamed Keita with a total of 58 points from two rounds finished in first place. He was followed by Mora Lafia Zime Nazif of Benin Republic with a total score of 50 while Zayd Yahiaoui of Algeria also had a score of 50 in third place and Hasina Rasolonandrianina of Madagascar with a total score of 47 finished in fourth place.

FIBA