2018 3x3 World Tour: Hyderabad Masters Review
The 3x3 World Tour moves to the first of its two new locations this year - the shores of the Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad, one of the largest cities of India.
Organisers and fans were hoping for a memorable inaugural edition of the Hyderabad Masters, and the play that was seen across the two days did not disappoint.
Novi Sad got proceedings underway with a 21-17 win over Delhi, who later pulled off a surprise win over Gdansk, and by a convincing margin of 22 points to 14. Taking down Novi Sad in the last game of Pool A proved too much of a task for Gdansk, who exited the tournament after a final 22-9 loss. Delhi’s win helped see them advance to day two.
Home team Hyderabad’s time in the tournament was short-lived, after double-digit losses to both Piran and Princeton. In the final Pool C game, Piran started strong, but Princeton handled the defensive pressure of their opponents, and by finding gaps in their opponents’ defence and firing well from long range, they took a five-point lead midway through the game, and maintained their form to the end, where they won 22-14.
Liman’s tournament opened with a 21-15 win over Sao Paulo, who were then eliminated after a nine-point loss to Gagarin. Liman opened the final game in Pool B with four unanswered points, and led by seven just after three minutes had been played. The inside play of Aleksandr Antonikovskii and the outside shooting of Alexander Zuev reduced Gagarin’s arrears to one, and Liman soon found themselves trailing. A two from Stefan Stojacic put Liman ahead with 45 seconds remaining, and they held Gagarin off on defence to see out victory. Both teams advance to the knockout round, but Liman would do so as Pool B winners.
Bangalore played their best defence and outside shooting to stay in touch of Riga, but great alertness and shot selection from the Latvians ensured they finished victors by 22 points to 16. Bangalore were then sent packing after a 19-12 loss to Belgrade, who then made it hard for Riga to break away in the final game. The scores tied at 19, overtime was needed to separate the teams, and Nauris Miezis put the game to bed with a two-point shot. Riga were Pool D champions with Belgrade finishing in second place.
Moving on to day two, Novi Sad and Princeton breezed through their respective quarter finals to Piran and Delhi, while Liman also advanced to the final four with a 19-15 win over Belgrade. Riga had the toughest matchup against Gagarin, who closed the gap as the game went on, but Latvians remained in control and advanced to the semi finals with a final two-point win.
Both semi finals were won by a point - first Novi Sad avoided overtime against Riga after a game-winning two from Dejan Majstorovic, and later a layup from Liman’s Aleksandr Ratkov with three seconds left saw his team advance to the final at the expense of Princeton. The final, however, was a more one-sided affair, where Novi Sad demonstrated their ingenuity, skill and athleticism over Liman to win a record fifth masters tournament of the tour.
Away from the main competition, the high-flying, hard-slamming moves the world's best put on in the Dunk Contest meant there was no let up in the excitement seen across the weekend:
The World Tour resumes next week in one of its most popular stops, Chengdu in China. Until then follow this link to the tour's official website for more news and features on the Hyderabad Masters and the 2018 3x3 World Tour.
