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USA complete unprecedented double at FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup 2019
ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - USA won a historic double at the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup 2019 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on June 3-7, 2019.
No team has previously won this competition with both men and women in the same edition.
The success in the women's category did not come as a surprise as the US national team had won the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup in 2012, 2013 and 2017.
Led by tournament MVP Hailey Van Lith and Team of the Tournament member Rickea Jackson, USA were undefeated in Mongolia. Their biggest challenge came in the final, a hard-fought 19-13 victory against New Zealand, who starred the last member of the Team of the Tournament, joint-top scorer Charlisse Leger-Walker. France took home the bronze medal by defeating China (15-13) in the third-place game.
USA had never won gold in the men's category at a FIBA 3x3 World Cup, regardless of the age category (senior, U23, U18). After winning all their pool games before the limit, they survived 3 consecutive scares, including an 18-17 thriller in the semi-finals against Russia and a 16-12 nail-biter in the final against Turkey. The tournament joint-top scorer Dawson Garcia was named MVP of the tournament and was joined on the Team of the Tournament by the other scoring leader, Argentina rising star Mateo Diaz and Turkey's Cagatay Özkan.
USA added 1 more medal, this time silver in the dunk contest thanks to Nimari Burnett. For their first participation in a FIBA 3x3 World Cup event, the Dominican Republic won gold via Fuhit Edouard. Aliaksei Navoichyk struck bronze for Belarus.
In the skills contest dedicated to women, Veronika Kosmach took home the gold medal for Ukraine. Russia's Yana Velikanova collected silver while New Zealand's Tayla Dalton earned bronze.
Last but not least, in the mixed shoot-out contest, Latvia's men sharpshooter Everts Ramza struck gold. He narrowly edged out 2 women, Mexico's Karina Esquer (silver) and Japan's Sakura Shimizu (bronze).
The event took place on the iconic Sukhbaatar Square as Ulaanbaatar became the capital of 3x3 for 9 straight days and set up a new record of consecutive FIBA 3x3 Official competitions with the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup, 2 stops of the FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League and a 3x3 Challenger of the professional circuit.
Final standings of the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup 2019
2. Turkey
4. Russia
5. Ukraine
6. Mongolia
7. Romania
9. Latvia
10. Slovenia
11. Brazil
12. Estonia
14. China
15. Dominican Republic
16. Turkmenistan
17. Kazakhstan
18. Belarus
19. Kyrgyzstan
20. Jordan
2. New Zealand
4. China
5. Japan
6. Indonesia
7. Mexico
8. Philippines
10. Switzerland
11. Hungary
12. Belgium
13. Czech Republic
16. Mongolia
17. Netherlands
18. Romania
19. Poland
20. Sri Lanka
Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world's number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.
It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly city-based FIBA 3x3 World Tour and national-team FIBA 3x3 World & Continental Cups.
On 9 June 2017, 3x3 was added to the Olympic Program, starting from the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Nike is the Founding Partner, Wilson the Global Sponsor and Tissot the Official Timekeeper of FIBA 3x3.
FIBA 3x3 events are played on Enlio floors with Wilson balls, Schelde backstops, and the Magic Sky canopy system.
For further information about 3x3, visit fiba3x3.basketball, FIBA 3x3 accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Sina Weibo, Tencent, Twitter, Youku and YouTube or contact 3x3@fiba.com.
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