France grabs Double Gold at WUC 3×3 Basketball
On 20 November 2016, Xiamen (China) welcomed 19 teams from around the world to open the 3rd FISU World University 3×3 Basketball Championship. Just one month after the 3×3 FISU World University League closed, the local organizing committee from Huaqiao University greeted the global youth again with its spectacular court on Huaqiao University campus. This time round, 10 men’s and 9 women’s national university teams from 10 countries and regions joined this event.
In the women’s tournament, Chinese Taipei and France competed for the world title. The score was so close throughout the final and tied at 8:8 when time ran out. In extra time, the French player Laetitia Guapo quickly shot a critical 2-point and revalidated the title. For the bronze medal, Hungary (1st seed) beat Thailand 2 (6th seed) by 17-13.
In the men’s final, the top seeded team France played against 10th seed Mongolia and proved too strong winning by 19-12. The bronze medal went to team Lebanon (4th seed) who defeated host team of China 1 (5th seed and composed of local Huaqiao University students) by 21-18.
France was therefore the biggest winner of the week, with both of its men’s and women’s teams crowned champions.
Meanwhile, in the individual men’s slam dunk contest, Zhao Wei from China swiftly dunked two balls in one attempt with the help of his teammate, winning the highest score and drawing a thunderous applause from the audience. The champion of the individual women’s shoot-out contest was Warunee Kitraksa from Thailand, who shoots 6 balls in 58 seconds.
At the closing ceremony, the President of Huaqiao University Mr. Jia Yimin thanked all participating teams and returnded the FISU flag to FISU CISCA Chair Mr. Hisato Igarashi, who declared the end of this 3×3 Basketball feast. Appreciation souvenirs were given by FISU to the local OC, FUSC and FIBA to honour their commitments in this 3×3 World University Championship.