Jeddah to host FIBA 3X3 World Tour Final in December for second year running

Abulrahman Al-Masaad, President of the Saudi Basketball Federation, with the winners of last year’s competition, Riga of Latvia. (Saudi Basketball Federation)
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Updated 03 July 2021
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Jeddah to host FIBA 3X3 World Tour Final in December for second year running

  • The sport was inspired by urban basketball play and will feature in the Olympics for the first time in Tokyo

JEDDAH: The FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final will be held Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the action for the popular basketball format taking place on Dec. 17-18, 2021.

Following the successful hosting of the 2021 tournament, one of the first international sporting events in the Kingdom after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saudi Basketball Federation will organize the climax of the men’s FIBA 3x3 professional circuit for the second year running.

Last year, Latvia’s Riga won the ninth competition of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour after defeating Liman (SRB) in the championship game.

This year, the final will feature the best 12 teams of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour season, which started in Doha, Qatar on March 26-27 and will continue after 3x3’s Olympic debut in Tokyo on July 24-28.

The following Masters events have already been confirmed for this year:

- August 20-21: Lausanne, Switzerland (eighth competition)

- August 28-29: Debrecen, Hungary (sixth competition)

- September 4-5: Montreal, Canada (second competition)

- September 18-19: Prague, Czech Republic (eighth competition)

- October 29-30: Abu Dhabi, UAE (third competition)

The 3x3 format was inspired by several forms of streetball played in neighborhoods across the world and is now considered the world’s leading urban team sport. Certified by the International Basketball Federation FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.

It was officially launched in international competitions at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly city-based FIBA 3x3 World Tour and national-team FIBA 3x3 World and Continental Cups.

On June 9, 2017, 3x3 was added to the Olympic Games, and will be played for the first time in Tokyo later this month.


Alcaraz powers into Indian Wells quarter-finals

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Alcaraz powers into Indian Wells quarter-finals

  • Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 ⁠6-2

World number one Carlos Alcaraz ‌continued his dominant run at Indian Wells, beating Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-1 7-6(2) on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals in the California desert.
The Spaniard relied on ​a near-flawless service game to seize control of the match, racing through the opening set in just 37 minutes after breaking Ruud’s serve three times.
Thirteenth-seeded Ruud raised his level in the second set and forced a tiebreak, hoping to push the match to a decider, but Alcaraz kept his foot on the gas to seal his 15th consecutive victory of the season to reach the quarter-finals ‌for a fifth ‌straight year.
“The conditions were difficult to be ​honest. ‌Today ⁠the ​ball was ⁠tough to control but we both played great,” two-time champion Alcaraz said in his on-court interview.
“My first set was incredible I’m really happy of playing that kind of level, really happy to get through and hopefully I’ll play this level on the next round.”
Alcaraz will next face 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, who earlier beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 ⁠6-2, with the Spaniard looking to avenge a defeat ‌to the Briton at last year’s ‌Paris Masters.

SWIATEK, PEGULA THROUGH
World number two Iga ​Swiatek delivered a dominant 6-2 6-0 ‌victory over Czech 13th seed Karolina Muchova, reeling off 10 consecutive ‌games to secure her fifth win over the Czech, whom she also beat at the same stage of the tournament last year.
“I felt I was playing better and better, just great,” Swiatek said.
“I love playing here ... It’s ‌a great place to play tennis, hopefully I can keep doing that until the end.”
Swiatek, chasing a ⁠third Indian Wells ⁠title, will face ninth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals after the Ukrainian advanced when Katerina Siniakova retired injured.
American fifth seed Jessica Pegula overcame Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6(5) to secure her first victory in five meetings between the pair.
Pegula, coming off a dramatic comeback win over Jelena Ostapenko, took control as she clinched the opening set — her first ever against the Swiss — before edging a tightly contested tiebreak to close out the match.
Russian 11th seed Daniil Medvedev beat Alex Michelsen 6-2 6-4 in a commanding performance, needing just one ​hour and 27 minutes to ​dismantle the American and maintain his strong form after winning last month’s Dubai Open.