2018 3x3 World Cup: Day Two Full Recap
More thrills and spectacle were on show as the ten remaining teams in both the men's and women's competitions of the 2018 3x3 World Cup took centre stage in the Philippines - and everyone shone in the spotlight, even if just for a moment.
Men's Tournament
A intriguing and tantalising picture started to unfold in Pool A. The group opened with a 22-7 win by the Netherlands over Kyrgyzstan, then the high-scoring efforts of Marius Ciotlaus helped Romania to a come back and win after going down early in their opener against New Zealand.
Romania then went two down to four up midway through their second game against Kyrgyzstan. It looked like a Romania’s game with a minute left on the clock, but a layup in traffic from Shakirzhan Kuranbaev and a two from Zhanysh Adiev tied the scores and sent the game to overtime. Evgenii Pekhov caught Romania asleep on defence and put up two layups in quick succession to seal an extraordinary victory of Kyrgyzstan.
Top-seeded Serbia then took to the court, and emerged winners in a crunch game against the Netherlands before handing New Zealand their second loss of the day.
Dusan Bulut and Stefan Stojacic combined to help keep Serbia unbeaten at the end of their first day in the tournament, while Romania and Kyrgyzstan's wins put them in contention to make the knockout round, along with Netherlands, while New Zealand have a lot of ground to make up when play resumes for them on Monday. If play in this pool so far continues, there's no telling how it will all end up.
Philippines finally took to the court in Pool C, and seven in a row early on lifted them to victory over Brazil that shocked expectations and delighted home crowds. Brazil’s troubles continued into their second game against Russia, where the close-range play of Ilya Alexandrov and Dmitry Korshakov helped keep them the advantage.
Canada had the most improbable win of the day - coming back from 8-0 down to beat Mongolia by 21 points to 15. With plenty of offensive firepower from Steve Sir, Canada then produced another big win against third-seeded Russia. This saw the Canadians sitting atop Pool C, unbeaten.
Mongolia closed out the day, keeping their hopes alive with a four-point win over Philippines. This leaves Brazil footing Pool C without a win, below Russia as well as Mongolia and Philippines on one win and one loss, all of them looking to topple Canada from the top spot as the competition moves on.
Women's Tournament
Iran and Uganda looked to regain some pride after blowout losses to the USA and Russia in Pool C. When the two met up, Uganda’s ability to pounce on loose balls and some nice long-distance shooting would be the factors that won them their first game at the World Cup.
Russia continued their form with slick and smart play in their 21-9 win over Andorra, whose problems continued into their next game against the USA. The Americans played well on defence and in the paint, while Andorra - ranked second in the world - looked sluggish and ill-disciplined as they lost their second game in a row, this time by sixteen.
Andorra are in very real trouble as they need a win to keep themselves alive in the competition, along with Iran. Uganda's victory puts them in third place in the pool, but Russia and the USA are looking the most dangerous, and their upcoming matchup is shaping up to be an exciting prospect.
The withdrawal of world number one Venezuela left play in Pool A wide open. Czech Republic got off to a strong start with wins over Turkmenistan and Indonesia by the same scoreline, 22-11, while Rae Lin D’Alie put in an amazing 13 points for Italy - the difference in their opening win over Malaysia. Fook Yee Yap then had one of the performances of the tournament so far, her vision, shooting and ability to find open team mates being a big key to Malaysia's 21-14 win over Indonesia.
This was followed by a shootout between Italy's Giulia Rulli and Anya Gokova of Turkmenistan - both scoring big in the day's final game. Italy's play in the low post eventually saw them break away from Turkmenistan, in the end winning by 22 points to 10.
After two wins each, Czech Republic and Italy currently stand at the top of Pool A, while conversely two losses apiece put Indonesia and Turkmenistan at the bottom. Malaysia's single win put them in an advantageous position, but it will be intriguing to see how this pool turns out on the final day of the tournament's opening phase.
So another day of exciting basketball of the highest quality comes to an end, but there's still plenty more to come as the teams in both men's and women's competitions all begin to push for a place in the knockout round. For more until then, visit the official website of the 3x3 World Cup.
