A week before the start of the II European games in Minsk, the final of the Belarusian basketball championship 3x3 among women's and men's teams took place at the Palova Arena.
Competitions became test to the Second European games and took place in a new format. All the fans were able to plunge into the atmosphere of the upcoming forum.
On June 15, 8 women's teams came to the site, which were divided into 2 groups and at the first stage of the tournament held 3 games each. In group A leadership immediately captured Grodno: already at the end of two matches, it has got to the playoffs, beating rivals with an advantage of 14 and 12 points respectively. This is not surprising: the team included basketball players "Olympia" - the silver medalist of the championship of Belarus 5x5.
But the second ticket to the semifinal won the team U-18. In the most important match it was stronger than Galaxy – 17:13.
In the group B the intrigue disappeared in the middle of the stage: "Devchata" and "Candidaty" literally did not leave chances to rivals from Maximum and Chibisov Team, and the only open question was the first place in the group. "Candidaty", which included contenders for a place in the national team of Belarus, won a victory over the "Devchata" in the final match of the first stage of the tournament – 18:16 – and reached the semifinals to U-18.
Both semifinal matches were incredible in their scenarios. "Devchata," formerly known as "Chichivichki", long and with a large lead in the game against Grodno, but finally let the opponent back in the game. Volha Kapylova with two precise free throws brought the Grodno team in front for 47 seconds before the siren – 19:18. In the remaining time "Devchata" had several chances to shift game to overtime, but couldn't realize any attack – and were compelled to give way in the ending to rivals.
The second semi-final also had a hot ending. "Candidaty" led for a very long time, having a "+5" in the asset, and the ball of team U-18 literally did not fly into the basket, and approval for this were two missed free throws in a row by Maryia Anufryenka. Despite this, they is not just back in the game – it dragged rivals in the clutch. For 46 seconds before the end of regular time "Candidaty" were "+1", and U-18 at the same time made a loss. Surprisingly, in the remaining moments juniors broke the course of events and snatched the victory, and namely Maryia Anufryenka scored the winning long throw – 21:20!
The only overtime was played in the match for 3rd place. Despite desperate resistance of "Candidaty", "Devchata" won bronze awards – 19:17. And in the final all advantage appeared on the party of Grodno – the team had inconceivable advantage and thus effectively attacked from a long distance. U-18 did not find any arguments against the coordinated actions of Grodno basketball players, who became the first winners of the Belarusian basketball championship 3x3!
Statistics
20,6 is an average per match scored by champions! Of the 5 matches 3 Grodno won, scoring 21 or more points.
Audience Choice Award
Audience Choice Award has got the player from "Candidaty" Aliaksandra Shauchenka – center of "Tsmoki-Minsk" has committed an uncountable number of unit shots, delighting the audience with bright actions in defense.
Comments
Player of Grodno Valiantsina Myshapud:
- The tournament was great. We are glad that we managed to win. Perhaps the most difficult match for us was in the semifinals. Nevertheless, we managed to overcome some difficulties and reached the final, where our opponents were less experienced players. Congratulations to all the girls with the victory, and opponents - with a good game.
Executive Director of basketball federation Nastassia Marynina:
- This championship has become a truly landmark for the entire Belarusian basketball 3x3. First of all, it is the debut national championship in this discipline, and secondly - all managed to check the readiness of the arena, of all services and staff for such a large-scale event as the ll European games. Today's tournament confirmed that Belarus is fully ready to hold competitions in Minsk at the highest level. The fight among the participating teams was spectacular, and coaches and players had the opportunity to test their strength on the eve of the main start of this summer and, perhaps, make some adjustments to the training.
On June 16, 12 men's teams entered the competition for the championship awards. The tournament also consisted of two stages – group and playoffs. The teams were divided into 4 quartets (3 in each) and held 2 matches, following which the 2 strongest squads from each group took place in the quarterfinals. From pool A in the playoffs came "Rosenergoatom" and "Koni" - they had a powerful meeting with each other (21:18 in favor of "Rosenergoatom") and knocked out PasTeam, the guys from which replaced a team from Vitebsk, which could not take part in competition due to sudden technical problems. No wonder the guys at PasTeam were not ready for challenge with rivals of such a high level. But in group B confrontation during the playoffs was overdramatic. In the beginning, "Belarus 1" beat "Slovechno" (20:16), and then "Slovechno" in the last seconds snatched victory from "Brest Archers" - 16:14. The “archers” had a chance to escape, but in the final match they lost to the opponents (12:22).
An excellent game was between the leaders of the group C – "Bricks" and "Yugo-Vostok". Until the last moments it was not clear who will win but "Bricks" ended the game with an accurate throw – 21:20. Unfortunately, the third team of the pool – U-18 – could not make it and lost in both match, finishing the performance at the tournament.
The leader of group D was "Mr.Magic" confidently outplayed "Gomelvodokanal" and "Yankies-GrSU". Team from Grodno failed to make it to the playoffs, giving the second ticket to the quarter-finals to the rivals from Gomel.
Unfortunately, there was a lack of intrigue in the first two matches of the quarterfinal round. "Belarus 1" left no chances or "Gomelvodokanal" to win (22:7), and "Rosenergoatom" beat out "Southeast" (21:11). But it was interesting to watch the two following meetings. "Mg.Magic" has been the leader so long and "Slovechno" were able to equalize the score thanks to a 4th times triple-point shot in a row performed by Andrei Stabrouski. Nevertheless "Mr.Magic" reached the semi-finals thanks to the victory in overtime – 21:19. "Koni" from Mogilev, with the help of Artsiom Malkou from "Borisfen", to the last struggled with "Bricks", but couldn’t make it to the victory – 19:16.
Suddenly the difference in the scores was noticeable in the semifinals. "Rosenergoatom" quickly got lots of fouls and "Belarus 1" showed the great result and reached the final (21:11). In the second match "Mr.Magic" confidently broke the resistance of "Bricks", prematurely ending the game with a major victory – 21:13.
"Mr.Magic" was not a favorite of the final, tried to make its best with the help of long shots, but "Belarus 1" tried to make it as difficult as possible for the opponents on the three-point arc. Under the basket the "Belarus 1" had a tangible advantage in growth. At the same time "Belarus 1" did not hesitate to shoot from afar. "Mr.Magic" resisted to the last, but failed to build a defense against the powerful attack of the national team - 14:21.
The winners of the tournament were awarded with special prizes from the BBF’s partner - Desnogorsk basketball Association "Sports training center for basketball players". Also, the third place winner "Rosenergoatom was awarded by the General Director of CSPB Sergei Fomin.
Statistics
“Belarus 1” had a powerful attack indeed: on average the team scored 21.2 points in the tournament despite the fact that it was enough to gain only 21 points to win. 2 games were finished with 22 points and only one meeting against the "Slovechno" they scored 20 points.
Comments
Player "Belarus 1" Siarhei Vabishchevich:
- I am glad to win and very glad that we have managed to meet good opponents before the II European games 2019. We approach the Games in optimal physical condition and with a positive attitude. If we talk about team interactions, of course, we managed to add significantly to this component thanks to the tournaments in which we took part in the last 3 weeks. Now we spend less effort on unnecessary and inefficient movements, trying to play coordinated and reliably.
Head coach of the Men's National Team of Belarus 3x3 Dzmitry Kaltunou:
- I’m very pleased with the play of my team. Our guys managed to add significantly in team interactions and in the throws implementation . Unfortunately, due to injury a couple of days ago we have lost Dzmitry Paliashchuk. Until tomorrow we have to decide on the fourth player in the team for the II European games 2019. There are two athletes who claim for a place in the roster - Yauheni Beliankou and Maksim Liutych. On June 18 we will visit the Olympic village, where there will be a final training for us before the Games that will start for us on June 21.
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