Brazil (M) and France (W) pocket Gold
After 4 full days of competitions, the 2nd World University 3×3 Basketball Championship 2014 came to end yesterday 21 September, in Salvador, Brazil. More than 1,000 fans attended the WUC Arena, set up by the beach of Pituba, to watch the games and cheer for the Brazilian teams and the other participants as well. The Last day started with the semi-finals in the morning to gradually end with an exhilarating performance from France and Brazil as the French girls won the women’s competition and the Brazilian guys the men’s.
In the women’s semi-finals, Brazil 1 defeated Italy 17:14, while France beat China 1 with 16:14. In the men’s semi-finals, France narrowly hopped over Serbia with a tight score of 22:20, in what was one of the most exciting matches decided in extra time. Brazil 1 qualified for the final after beating Argentina in a classic South-American clash with a final score of 15:08.
After the break, Italy (W) and Serbia (M), the current champions from 2012, got onto the court to battle for the bronze medals of this year’s edition. The Italian girls faced team China 1, which they won after a tight game putting a 21:20 on the scoreboard. Team Serbia played against Argentina and finished the score with a 20:15.
In the women’s final, France faced the 4 girls from Brazil 1 on their path towards the gold medal, plus the public who obviously was supporting the Brazilian girls. Nevertheless, the French team managed well the match and became for the first time the champion of the WUC 3×3 Basket, with a final score of 16:06.
The men’s final saw both nations facing off again. The French team had Thomas Laurent, one of the best players of the WUC and also of the 3×3 World Tour Series. But host Brazil got that little extra from the cheering crowd and joined all forces to beat the French 14:11 pocketing the gold.
As usual in 3×3 championships, the WUC in Salvador had the Individual competitions too. Previously, the women competed against each other in the shootout challenge. Alessandra Tava (ITA) was the most successful one winning the gold medal, Zheng Ying (CHN) got the silver and Ana Cautu (ROU) bronze. The girls then joined the men for the free throw pursuit challenge. Only one girl made it to the top 3, Franciele Nascimento (BRA) took the bronze. Wu Di (CHN) finished with the gold and silver was for Thomas Laurent (FRA). After yesterday’s men’s final the men participated in the dunk competition as well. Jordan Burg (BRA) guaranteed the 1st place, Ivan Popovic (SRB) ended in 2nd place and Eric Camillo (BRA) landed on 3rd.
Around 100 student-athletes from 12 countries (Brazil, Argentina, China, Slovenia, Israel, Japan, Russia, France, Uganda, Italy, Romania and Serbia) took part in this 2nd WUC edition, from 18 to 21 September. More than 50 bilingual volunteers helped the OC to offer the best services to all participants. The next edition (3rd) will take place in Beijing, China, in 2016.
“CBDU and Brazil are really happy for the opportunity we had to host this competition. We did our very best to offer the best. We thank all the delegations who came to participate with us and give special thanks to the volunteers. Without them it would have been way harder to organize this WUC”, Marcelo Salvador, the 2014 OC President commented.
This was the 3rd international university competition in Brazil this year. The active FISU Member Association CBDU previously staged the 12th WUC Triathlon (Brasilia – April) and the 6th WUC Rugby Sevens (São José dos Campos – August). In December Brazil is organizing the inaugural International University Beach Games, in Maceió.
The 3rd edition will take place in Xiamen, China in 2016.