Four-time 3×3 World Cup champion Dusan Bulut of Serbia and first-time gold medalist Rae D’Alie of Italy headline the men’s and women’s All-Tournament Teams of the FIBA 3X3 World Cup 2018, Monday night at the Philippine Arena.
Bulut, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, is joined by Poland’s Michael Hicks and Jesper Jobse of Netherlands, whom Bulut and the Serbians defeated in the gold medal game, 16-13, for the second straight year.
On the other hand, the diminutive D’Alie – the women’s MVP, as she scored a tournament-best 53 points, and a crowd darling among Filipinos – is joined by Anna Leshkovtseva of Russia and feisty Chinese guard Jiang Jiayin.
For the third straight year, Serbia has bagged the 3×3 World Cup men’s title, elevating its gold medal count to four. They have achieved the huge feat by downing Netherlands, 16-13, in a rematch of last year’s finals.
The Netherlands will be flying back to its homeland with its second straight silver medal.
Slovenia has finally returned to the podium after finishing just fourth in the 2017 3×3 World Cup in France, ending this year as the bronze medalists as it sent down the Hicks and Pawel Pawlowski-led Poland, 21-15.
On the women’s side, D’Alie and Italy made the biggest upset of the cagefest as they defeated Anna Leshkovtseva and the defending 3×3 titlists Russia, 16-12, to win their country’s first-ever gold medal in the 3×3 World Cup.
Russia settled for silver, similar to their finish back in 2014.
France has clinched the bronze medal at the expense of Jiang Jiayin and China, 21-14. This is now the second time that the French have finished standing on the podium – the first one was in 2012, when they lost USA in the gold medal match.
The FIBA 3X3 World Cup 2019 will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
