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
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.
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.
