2022 FIBA 3×3 World Cup : On June 25, four men’s teams and four women’s teams will advance from their respective quarterfinals to the semifinals of the Crelan FIBA 3×3 World Cup 2022.
First-seeded Serbia is still in great shape to win their fifth World Cup overall and seventh overall. Dejan “The Maestro” Majstorovic scored a game-high 8 points, including the game-winner, in a game that many predicted would be the championship game versus Latvia, the defending Olympic champions.
Belgium, which advanced by defeating Poland in the quarterfinals, will be Serbia’s semi-final opponent (18-14). Nick Celis and Maxime Depuydt scored a combined 13 points to help the hosts, and the loooooooooud Belgian crowd was also a huge factor.
France will face Lithuania in the other second-round men’s semi-final. Les Bleus broke the Netherlands’ four-game winning run in Antwerp (18-12) after beating Austria in the play-in game. The lefty sniper scored 7 points to lead the team to victory.
With another lefty, Marijus Uzupis, recording a triple-double of 7 points, 6 highlights, and 6 rebounds, Lithuania defeated the defending champions, the United States, 21-11. His three straight two-pointers completely altered the tide of the game against Lithuania.
Both the men’s and women’s semi-finals will include France and Lithuania as competitors.
Les Bleus avenged their home defeat to Spain in last year’s Europe Cup semi-finals four hours after upsetting Mongolia in the play-in (21-9). Marie-Eve Paget, a former world No. 1 in 3×3, won the game with a baseline jumper in overtime (15-14).
2022 FIBA 3×3 World Cup in Crelan
Canada, who had a busy day beating the Women’s Series defending champions Germany in the play-in and the United States in the quarter-finals, will face France in the next round (14-10). Katherine and her sister Michelle Plouffe contributed 11 points to the victory.
In the other semi-final, China will face Lithuania, who won bronze at Tokyo 2020. Lithuania, making their first World Cup participation, advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Poland 19-16 in what was perhaps the tournament’s finest women’s match. They had previously beaten the Netherlands (19-10) in the play-offs. With seven points and five boards, Monika Grigalauskyte topped all players.
Last time out in the quarterfinals, China eliminated Belgium (21-13). In a game when the Belgian Cats were down to only three players due to Laure Resimont’s ankle injury sustained in the play-in victory against Brazil, Olympic scoring leader Lili Wang scored a game-high 9 points.
