Abu Dhabi // Between its handful of cafes, ample greenery and generally open feel, Yas Mall’s Town Square area has all the features of a public square.
On Friday, though, it was a basketball arena.
Situated in the spacious plaza overlooked by the Rogo’s roller coaster restaurant and Sfera designer fashion store was a red 30-metre by 30m basketball court providing the playing surface for the Abu Dhabi 3x3 Challenger tournament.
It was the final of six 3x3 events around the emirate that have composed the Abu Dhabi 3x3 tour, with the capital set to host the Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final in October.
As far as practice runs go, yesterday’s event appeared to tick all the boxes.
The 3x3 tournament had a bit of a travelling hoops carnival feel to it, with basketball interspersed with performances by basketball gymnasts, BMX riders and a dunk contest.
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On the court, Al Wahda’s assemblage of global 3x3 stars took home the title with flair and earned a trip to the Manila Masters in August, one of the six qualifying tournaments for October’s Abu Dhabi finale.
Off the court, crowds gathered in the square around the court and above it on the second level, curiosity piqued by the exhibition taking place in front of the shifting green-blue of the Yas Mall waterfall.
“This is amazing, a great event,” Fiba’s 3x3 director Alex Sanchez said.
“I’ve seen a lot of these events, but this is very good, a very nice venue and the level of the games we’ve had is pretty high.
“I’ve been here since four o’clock, so that’s five hours, and it’s been full all day.
“If this is the level now,” Sanchez said, the October 15-16 final along the Corniche, “will be even better”.
The 3x3 format, a rugby-sevens-like trimming of basketball’s five-man, full-court game, offered spectators yesterday plenty of the frenetic style of the game the half-court code is known for.
The Abu Dhabi Challenger final, with the four Serbian stars who were recently teamed together by Wahda and a team from Ljubljana, Slovenia, was hectic and energetic.
Wahda’s Dusan Domovic, the top-ranked 3x3 player in the world, gave the crowd a show as he rained in a flurry of five two-pointers that made it 13-3 three minutes into the game and effectively put it to bed.
In 3x3, baskets count for one and two points and the teams either play to 21 or for 10 minutes.
Domovic finished with 16 points and Wahda defeated Ljubljana 22-13, with Dejan Majstorovic putting the exclamation point on the victory with a two-pointer.
Wahda had advanced in the semi-final 21-13 past Bone Collectors Dubai Marina, with big man Marko Savic leading the team with six points, while Ljubljana had battled their way into the final 21-14 over a team representing Al Ain.
Organisers, billing it as the first sporting event held at Yas Mall, called the tournament a success.
“Threex3 can be played anywhere, you just need the 30 x 30m, I think it’s the only sport in the world you could do in a mall like that,” said Radu Petre of SportArena, the Fiba-sanctioned company staging the Abu Dhabi tour.
“Good audience, good level of play, the top four 3x3 players in the world, it’s been two great days.”
jraymond@thenational.ae
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