Toulouse crowned FIBA 3X3 Lusail Challenger champions
Tribune News Network
Doha
France's Toulouse claimed the FIBA 3X3 Lusail Challenger International Championship title on Saturday as they beat Serbia's Lyman 20-18 in the final.
Organized by the Qatar Basketball Federation in cooperation with the Qatar Diar Company, and under the supervision of FIBA, the championship witnessed the participation of 16 international teams from world over.
Mohammed bin Saad Al Mughaiseeb, President of the Qatar Basketball Federation, and Eng. Fahad Abdullatif Al Jahrami, Chief Development and Asset Management Officer of Qatari Diar, honoured the winners with the prizes.
The closing ceremony was also attended by Saadoun Sabah Al Kuwari, Secretary-General of QBF, and members of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Basketball Federation, and Captain Yassin Ismail, Director of the 3x3 Committee in QBF.
The top three teams from the tournament have qualified for the next global round, which will be held in Amsterdam from May 17-18.
Among the teams that participated in this version were teams from Europe, such as French Toulouse, Lehman and Partizan Serbian, Swiss Logano, Candafa Latvi, Lithuanian Condaian, and Spain.
The list of teams also included clubs from the Americas such as Carolina (Puerto Rico) and New York Harlem (USA), as well as the Rwandan Kigali and Japanese Nichinomia from Asia and Africa.
Participation was not limited to foreign teams. Five teams from the host country, Qatar, participated in the championship, namely: Al Wakrah, Al Rayyan, Al Gharafa, Al Khor and Doha.
Al Maghaiseeb stressed that the tournament achieved an exceptional success at all levels, whether in terms of organization, public presence or strong competition between the teams.
He said: 'We are proud of the high organizational and technical level in this championship, which is one of the stations that qualify for the global Masters rounds.'
He pointed out that Qatar has become a prominent sports destination to host the major international championships in 3x3 basketball. 'We seize this occasion to invite the teams and the visiting masses to discover the tourist attractions in Qatar.'
Saadoun Sabah Al Kuwari, Secretary-General of QBF, expressed his appreciation for all the efforts made to make the championship a success, stressing that the tournament contributed to enhancing the experience of Qatar's teams. 'We continue to support this type of tournament because it provides a great opportunity to friction with the global teams, and enhance our players' technical experiences and give them the opportunity to develop,' he said.
For his part, Eng. Fahad Abdullatif Al Jahrami, Chief Development and Asset Management Officer of Qatari Diar, expressed his thanks to the Qatar Basketball Federation for the distinguished organization of the tournament, stressing that hosting the championship in the Lusail region is an important step towards making it a global sports center.
Al Jahrami added: 'We at the Qatari Diar are working to make Lusail a sporting, cultural and tourist destination at the same time, and through this tournament, we confirmed Qatar's great position in organizing major sporting events.'
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