FISU University World Cup 3×3 Basketball: Paulistas strike again!

They were the defending champions and they fiercely confirmed their 2019 title. The Brazilian (men) team of Paulista University (UNIP, São Paulo) won the University World Cup 3×3 Basketball held in Istanbul. Chinese Culture University (TPE) clinched the gold medal in the women competition.

When a 2-point basket at the last tenth of a second of their game allowed the local Manisa University to upset the defending champions in pool D, it was not hard to imagine that the resulting quarter-final between the Paulistas and the Lithuanian squad of Vytautas Magnus University would be the true final. The Baltic boys had outrageously dominated their pool with a demonstration of power and precision, and they looked like an impregnable fortress.

As expected, the game was all about strength, brilliancies, intensity and uncertainty. It went to overtime and the Brazilian eventually prevailed.

The rest was a mere formality. Led by their number 6 Gianluca Campaner – a Goliath-like striker able to single-handedly dismantle any defense – they cruised to gold.      

The women competition crowned the Chinese Culture University (TPE), a team which impressed by its speed and technical skills. Saying that they dominated from start to finish would not be an insult to their opponents. Even the strong Mexican team from Monterrey did not have the ghost of a chance in the final game.  

The event, which had been moved to the Bosphorus city from Xiamen (China), where it took place from 2015 to 2019, attracted 24 teams (12 per gender) and offered games attended by a large and lively audience.

The results at a glance

Men

Gold Final: Paulista University (BRA – Campaner, De Paulo, Santos and Grafite) – Macquarie University (AUS – Fitzgerald, Uadiale, Prakash and Tyrrell) 20-10  

Bronze Final: Monterrey ITES (MEX – Ochoa, Molina, Limas, Domínguez) – La Matanza University (ARG – Moran, Martinez, Gamba and Menendez) 16-9  

Semifinals: Macquarie – Monterrey  14-13 ; Paulista – La Matanza 21-11

Quarter-finals: Monterrey – UCU (UGA) 15-14 ; Macquarie – Manisa  (TUR) 17-15

La Matanza – Taylor’s Uni (MAS) 21-12 ; Paulista – Vytautas (LTU) 14-13 OT (12-12)

Women

Gold Final: CCU (TPE – Kuo, Huang, Hsu and Wang) – Monterrey ITES (MEX – Esquer Vila, Rovira, González and Zamora) 21-12  

Bronze Final: Royal International University (MGL – Bat-Erdene, Tsendjav, Bazargurev and Onolbaatar) – Islamic Azad University (IRI – Fallahdomdomeh, Golmohammadi, Khodaverdian and Ghaffari) 15-12

Semifinals: CCU – RIU 21-7 ; Monterrey – IAU 12-6

Quarter-finals: RIU – Ljubljana (SLO) 15-13 OT (13-13) ; CCU – PNU (UKR) 14-11 ; Monterrey – Gazi (TUR) 19-5 ; IAU – Lincoln (NZL) 11-7.

We warmly thank FISU Official Partner Qiaodan Ltd who provide remarkable uniform to FISU Family and has been supporting FISU University World Cup 3×3 Basketball since 2015. All sports uniforms for the teams and referees are provided by the company.