Very exciting basketball 3x3 tournament came to an end and the last day was a really joy to behold. Fantastic energy, a lot of quality plays and players and unfortunately for the spectators it had to end. We have new basketball queens from Ukranian University Vasyl Stefanyk, and the king remained the same because University of Kragujevac won third consecutive gold medal.
After the quarterfinal matches we knew that we are about to witness an amazing tournament. Split had not one but two teams in the semis, Kragujevac easily won against Genova while the only upset was the loss of the number one ranked team of the tournament, University of Ljubljana, that lost against University of Saint-Petersburg. Russians were the biggest surprise of the tournament because they finished second in the group B, but at the playoffs they were on a good run and made all the way to the finals. Their game versus the University of Split 1 was epic, and the buzzer beater of Shalva Shatashvili is something to remember. But, they could not beat Kragujevac who beat the University of Split 2 in the semifinals. We have to point out an amazing game of Luka Petrašić from that semi final match, who scored 13 points for his team, but Split 2 did not have solution for the great play of the old and new champions. University of Split 2 won the bronze medal.
In the women semi final we saw the reprise of the last year final from Rijeka, because Ljubljana and Lithuanian sport university decided who will face Ukranians in the final match. University Vasyl Stefanyk from Ukrania were clear favorites against University of physical education from Romania in the semis and won 21:15. Defending champions played an excellent match and lead by Deimante Žuskaite caused a lot of trouble for the Ukranian team but experience of Olga Maznichenko, Krystyna Fillevych and the rest from their team did not allow any upset and won the gold medal. Last year silver medalists from Ljubljana had to satisfy with the bronze.
University of Aveiro won the fair play award, Ana-Mari Cuatu (University of physical Education Romania) and Stojan Đekanović (University of Ljubljana) won men and women three-point shootout, while Anton Dikov (Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria) won the dunk contest. Luka Petrašić (Split 2), Shalva Shatashvili (Saint-Petersburg), Luka Rašetina (Split 1) and the MVP of the tournament Ivan Nedeljković made in the men all star team, while Deimante Žuskaite (LSU), Ana-Marie Cuatu (Romania), Urša Žibert (Ljubljana) and MVP Olga Maznichenko (Ukrania) have their place in the women all star team.