Fiba 3v3 World Tour: Sakiai Gulbele down Olympic champions on way to winning Hong Kong Masters
- Marijus Uzupis hails ‘amazing win’ after Lithuanian quartet beat Riga side made up of Tokyo Games gold medallists
- Organisers get vote of confidence from game’s governing body, but say plenty of lessons to learn
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The Lithuanian team Sakiai Gulbele were crowned the first Hong Kong Masters champions on Sunday, after they upset a team of Olympic gold medallists, and previous Fiba 3v3 World Tour winners, on their way to an “amazing” win.
Victory capped off a dramatic last day’s action at Victoria Park, which also saw Swiss side Lausanne Sport confirmed as the 12th side to qualify for the season-ending finals in Abu Dhabi next month.
Ranked eighth on the tour, Sakiai were playing for only the sixth time this season, and had already finished in the top three twice, in Montreal and Utrecht.
Home side to face Latvia’s Olympic stars in Hong Kong Masters 3x3 basketball
Still, they were not expected to get past Riga in the quarter-finals, with the Latvian team made up of the four players – Nauris Miezis, Kārlis Lasmanis, Edgars Krūmiņš, Agnis Čavars – who won gold at the Tokyo Games last year.
But Sakiai dominated from start to finish against their out-of-sorts opponents, and an early 7-1 lead ballooned to 15-5, before Paulius Beliavicius knocked down the game-winning two-pointer to give Sakiai a deserved 22-13 victory.
The Lithuanians faced a tough challenge from Antwerp in the final four, but despite trailing by as many as four points for much of the game, Sakiai used a 9-3 run to take a 17-15 lead and held on in the closing minutes for a spot in the final.
Sakiai again trailed in the final, as the Austrians, who win in Paris last month, knocked down several shots to open up and early lead.
However, back-to-back free throws and a two-pointer from Marijus Uzupis put the Lithuanians within reach.
The 29-year-old then took over the game late, knocking down back-to-back two pointers to put his side 19-16 ahead, and tournament MVP Aurelijus Pukelis then sealed it 21-17 from the line, as Sakiai took home the US$40,000 winners’ prize money.
“The feeling is amazing, we worked so hard all year, and we are going to the finals, the win is just amazing,” Uzupis, who finished the tournament as top scorer with 41 points, said.
With Hong Kong the final stop of an 11-leg regular season, the 12 teams who will compete in the finals in the United Arab Emirates next month are now set.
The tournament will return to Abu Dhabi for the first time since 2016, and more than US$200,000 prize money will be up for grabs.
With the action on the court living up to expectations, so did the numbers in the stands. Attendance was much better on Sunday, although organisers M1 Group said there was room for improvement.
“Personally there were a lot of potential improvements, but Fiba and the Hong Kong government both gave me a vote of confidence,” Kenny Wong, the company’s CEO, said. “They were saying we did well as first-time organisers, and encouraged us to keep hosting such tournaments.
“I am truly satisfied with the quality of the games, but in any future tournaments, we must do a better job in terms of promotions.”
According to HK Ticketing, 882 of the 1,547 available tickets, or 57 per cent, were sold over the course of two days.
