Gdansk win Chengdu Challenger, qualify for World Tour Beijing Masters
CHENGDU (3x3 Challenger) – Team Gdansk (POL) secured their return to the FIBA 3x3 World Tour after winning the Chengdu 3x3 Challenger on 18-19 June 2016.
Michael 'Money in the Bank' Hicks shined at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Lausanne Masters last year, topping all scorers and leading his team to 3rd place.
The US showman made more fans in China last weekend, scoring a whopping 50 points in just 6 games and helping his team defeat St Petersburg 22-12 in the final.
Just like last year, Gdansk feature twin towers Pawel Pawlowski and Lukasz Muszynski. The difference is the return on the team of Piotr Renkiel, who helped Team Kolobrzeg (POL) reach the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final last season.
With this win, Gdansk took home 10,000 USD and made sure they will come back to China - this time for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Beijing Masters - on 17-18 September 2016.
St Petersburg missed a chance to earn a spot to both Asian Masters after qualifying for the Utsunomiya Masters at the Penang Challenger. You surely couldn’t blame it on the versatile big man Ilya Alexandrov who led all scorers in Chengdu with 57 points.
Nine of the 16 teams featured in Chengdu previously played at the World Tour, including the 2013 edition winners, Team Ljubljana.
Dunk star Jordan Kilganon also brought the local crowd on its feet after nailing down his signature Scorpion dunk over 3 people and dunking over a car.
The next Challenger is scheduled for 24-25 June in Abu Dhabi and will feature the two teams who reached the title game of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final in the same city last year, Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE) and Kranj (SLO).
FIBA