Czech Republic's Women and Israel's Men dominate 3x3 EC Riga Qualifier

RIGA (2015 FIBA 3x3 U18 European Championships) - Israel (men) and Czech Republic (women) won the last of three FIBA 3x3 U18 European Championships Qualifier in Riga, Latvia on 1-2 August and will lead the last group of participants to the final stage of the competition, which will be held in Minsk, Belarus on 21-23 August.

Both finals were hard-fought battles with Israel downing France 21-14 and Czech Republic upsetting Hungary 17-13.

The men's fifth-place game for a chance to win the final set of tickets to Minsk featured Denmark and Switzerland and the game turned into a nail-biter. The Swiss side led the way for most of the contest, however Denmark, mainly due to excellent pressure on defence, managed to end up winning 13-12 in the closing seconds.

Israel, France, Latvia, Armenia and Denmark will be heading to Minsk as the top five teams from the men's category, while Czech Republic, Hungary, France, Belarus (hosts), Russia and Romania all qualify in the women's division.

The final set of participants for the FIBA 3x3 U18 European Championships in Minsk is as follows:

Men
Armenia
Belarus
Belgium
Denmark
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD)
France
Georgia
Germany
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Russia
Spain
Turkey

Women
Belarus
Belgium
Czech Republic
Estonia
France
Germany
Hungary
Israel
Italy
Lithuania
Netherlands
Poland
Russia
Romania
Slovak Republic
Spain

FIBA