3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament - Day One Review

One of 3x3 Basketball's spiritual homes, Debrecen in Hungary played host to what for sixteen women and men's teams would be their last chance of reaching this year's Olympic tournament.

After coming agonizingly close to a place in Paris just weeks ago, Canada were among the highest seeded and most favoured women's teams to claim one of the three Olympic spots on offer in Debrecen. The men's team, comprised of Alex Johnson, Bikramjit Gill, Jerome Desrosiers and Kamar McKnight, were yet to see the court in 2024

Both men's and women's tournaments saw the teams divided into four pools of four, the top two teams at the end of the preliminary stage progressing to the knockout round. There were only three places in Paris on offer on each end so it was all to play for at 3x3's last chance saloon.

Play began with the men's tournament, where after a slow start in their opening game, Canada went on a 5-1 run, to which Spain responded with four points unanswered. Twice in a row Spain levelled the scores after Canada tried to instigate a breakaway, the game hung in the balance until Kamar McKnight hit four in a row, which put Canada up three with thirty seconds left.

Last-second shots from Alex Johnson put the final result beyond doubt, he finished with six and McKnight had seven in Canada's opening 18-14 win over Spain.

Later on in the day, Canada got the first points on the board but Egypt kept levelling the scores and eventually went in front after hitting four in a row. Jerome Desrosiers returned the lead to Canada, only for Egypt to put themselves up by one, they then hit seven unanswered, most coming from Youssef Refaat.

With time running out Johnson hit five without reply, making it a one-point game, but Ahmed Mohammed then completed an and-one play which got Egypt up to 21 points, claiming the win.

This leaves Pool C precarious as all teams finish day one with a win and a loss, leaving the door open for an exciting day two with no telling how the pool could finish up. Canada still have a game against France before they can focus on the knockout stage.

In the women's draw, Chile matched Canada shot-for-shot at the start of the opening game for both teams. Canada went in front from two beyond the arc by Michelle Plouffe, with Katherine following suit from the paint. Chile narrowed the gap from two-point territory, but then went cold and Canada hit nine in a row to bring the game to a close

Later that day both Canada and Lithuania were evenly matched from close range early on until Kamile Nacickaite hit four in a row, putting Lithuania up by two. Canada took advantage of scrappy defence from their opponents, drawing fouls and converting from the stripe, which saw them go from down two to up two.

Nacickaite kept levelling the score line but Crozon and Bosch combined to make it a four-point game ahead of the final minute. Lithuania got to within two but were contained for the last seconds, Canada prevented another shot from them and stayed undefeated at the end of day one.

A win for Canada against their only remaining pool opponent, the Czech Republic, would see them safely through the pool. Check back here for a full report on Day Two's action, and follow all games over on the official FIBA 3x3 website.