Riga Ghetto win their third FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters of the season in Jeddah

JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia) - Riga Ghetto (LAT) won the first edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Jeddah Masters in  Saudi Arabia on October 18-19, 2019.

The Latvians avenged their dramatic loss in the final of the Debrecen Masters by edging out Liman (SRB) this time around in a thrilling final (21-18).

The 28-year-old Nauris Miezis capped his MVP performance with a team-high 9 points in the final, including a spectacular crossover and finish in traffic for the win. The Latvian star and number 3 player in the world led all scorers in Jeddah with 43 points overall. 

Miezis received his MVP trophy from Mr Abdurrahman Al-Mossa'ad, President of the Saudi Basketball Federation, while Riga Ghetto received their prize from FIBA President Hamane Niang and His Royal Highness Prince Abdul Aziz bin Turki Al-Faisal , Chairman of the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia.

Riga Ghetto went 5-0 on the iconic Jeddah waterfront despite missing their star player Karlis Lasmanis due to injury. The Latvian powerhouse won their third Masters of the season after their success in Doha and Prague. 

Aleksandar Ratkov had a game-high 10 points in a losing effort for Liman (SRB) in the final. Despite its loss, the Serbian squad finished 1st overall in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour standings at the end of the regular season and - as a consequence - earned a 60,000 USD cheque. Liman made history by qualifying to each one of the 11 Masters this season.

The field is now set for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final. The top 12 teams in the World Tour season standings (Liman (SRB), Riga Ghetto (LAT), Novi Sad (SRB), Piran (SLO), NY Harlem (USA), Princeton (USA), Edmonton (CAN), Sakiai Gulbele (LTU), Amsterdam (NED), Zemun (SRB), Jeddah (KSA) and Lausanne (SUI) will compete for the World Tour title in Utsunomiya, Japan on November 2-3, 2019. The local favorites Jeddah (KSA) secured their spot in the last Masters by reaching the quarter-finals and finishing 6th overall in Saudi Arabia, to the delight of a huge devoted crowd.

In the individual contests, Zhiyang Zhang (JingAn SSLC) won the Jeddah United Shoot-Out Contest and received his award from Mrs Lina Khaled Almaeena, Member of the Shura Council.

Vadim 'Miller' Poddubchenko (Ukraine) took home the dunk contest and was awarded his trophy by His Excellency Fahad Bin Jalawi Alsaud, Director Of International Relations at the Saudi Olympic Committee.

FINAL STANDINGS

1. Riga Ghetto (LAT)
2. Liman (SRB)
3. Piran (SLO)
4. Utsunomiya (JPN)
5. Sakiai Gulbele (LTU)
6. Jeddah (KSA)
7. Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy (MGL)
8. Lyon (FRA)
9. Tokyo Dime (JPN)
10. Taikhar ARA ADM (MGL)
11. Balanga Chooks (PHI)
12. Cheon An Musso (KOR)
13. Neva COP-Nokian (RUS)
14. North Jakarta Pertamina (INA)
15. Riyadh (KSA)
16. JingAn SSLC (CHN)

###

Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world’s number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.

It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly city-based FIBA 3x3 World Tour and national-team FIBA 3x3 World & Continental Cups.

On 9 June 2017, 3x3 was added to the Olympic Program, starting from the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Nike is the Founding Partner, Wilson the Global Sponsor and Tissot the Official Timekeeper of FIBA 3x3.

FIBA 3x3 events are played on Enlio floors with Wilson balls, Schelde backstops, and the Magic Sky canopy system.

For further information about 3x3, visit fiba3x3.basketball, FIBA 3x3 accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Sina Weibo, Tencent, Twitter, Youku and YouTube or contact 3x3@fiba.com.