First timers Goettingen beat defending champions on opening day

On an action-packed first day of the 3×3 FISU World University League Finals, the University of Goettingen from Germany pulled off a stunning come-from-behind win over men’s defending champions Mon-Altius of Mongolia, while Sara Meden led the University of Ljubljana to two commanding victories that set the benchmark in the women’s field.

Goettingen (GER) v Mon Altius Physical (MGL)XIAMEN – After months of excitement and intense continental qualifiers that ran through the year, the fourth edition of the 3×3 FISU World University League was off to a flyer of a start in Xiamen, China, with a beautiful opening ceremony and high-octane matches.

Men’s defending champions Mon-Altius Physical Education Institute of Mongolia, opened their 2018 campaign on a winning note, with a closely fought 17-15 win over Centre of University Studies, Mexico.

The highly-touted team from Mongolia is the same squad as the one that represented the country at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, earlier this year. While that means they are among the youngest squads in the fray, they proved their mettle in their first game.

A few hours later though, they ran into a determined German team and produced what was perhaps the match of the day. This is the first time for the University of Goettingen at the World University League Finals, and they couldn’t have started on a better note.

Also coming off a win in their first game against University of Costa Rica, the Germans matched the Mongolians step for step. It was an electric start by the two teams that many consider favourites for the tournament. Astounding speed from the Mongolians and solid defence from the Germans led to a 2-2 score line within the first minute.

It continued like that until a super shot from Ikhbayar Chuluunbaatar saw the Mongolians race away to a 7-3 lead. It was 11-9 at the 5-minute mark, but the Germans then closed the gap to make it 15-15 with 3 minutes to go. In the dying minutes, the Goettingen team went into top gear, even as the Mongolians ran out of ideas to hand the Germans a 21-16 victory that they celebrated with no-holds-barred.

The 2016 men’s champions, McGill University from Canada also looked very good on the opening day with a 21-12 victory over Istanbul Arel University and 21-15 over Vytautas Magnus University of Lithuania. 

“Day 1 was a great experience,” said Noah Daoust of McGill afterwards. “Our pool is very tough, so having success in these early games is good for us.”

 
Over in the women’s field, ‘Doctor’ Sara Meden, who is a medicine student at the University of Ljubjana, came out all guns blazing as coach, manager and captain of her team.

First, they registered a 22-14 win over CETYS University, Mexico (right) and then they beat Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, 19-13, in a scrappy, but closely contested match. Going into the second day, they take on the National University of Colombia and will fancy their chances of topping their Pool. 

“We are happy to start with two wins,” Meden said at the end of day’s play. “We really enjoyed playing in front of a big crowd and are looking forward to some good performances in following days.”

FIBA 3×3 Development Manager Robert Rieblinger was thrilled with the quality of competition in the women’s matches, and also the camaraderie. “It’s always nice to see the spirit of the teams,” he said. “When they were not in competition, the young players cheered for others. It’s rarely seen in other events.”

Scroll below to see all scores from Day 1 as well as the scheduled matches for Day 2. Detailed scoresheet can be found here.