BASKETBALL – Bahrain representatives Seef were classified a solid sixth overall yesterday as the Lion City Challenger 2026 wrapped up in Singapore.
The two-day tournament was part of the 2026 Fiba 3x3 World Tour, and it acted as a qualifier for the Lausanne Masters, scheduled for August 14 and 15 in Switzerland.
Seef claimed their final ranking after losing their quarter-final yesterday against Shibuya of Japan 14-21.
The kingdom’s outfit earlier punched their tickets to the knockout stages after splitting their two Pool A games against Antwerp from Belgium and home side Singapore.
Antwerp – who competed in past seasons of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour as Bahrain’s Riffa – were crowned champions in Singapore after beating Shibuya 21-14 in yesterday’s final.
Valencia Basket from Spain ranked third, joining Antwerp and Shibuya in qualifying for Lausanne.
The rest of the top eight were completed by Taipei WanBao from Chinese Taipei, Bordeaux from France, Toronto from Canada, and Princeton from the US.
In Seef’s quarters defeat yesterday to Shibuya, they fell behind early 1-6 and never recovered, trailing by as many as nine points.
Austin Ajukwa had seven points to lead the Bahrainis in the loss, while Uros Ilic added four and Bogdan Dragovic had three.
Kristaps Gluditis was the game’s best performer with 14 points for Shibuya – single-handedly matching Seef’s total output.
Bahrain has been involved as a host nation in the past three seasons of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
In 2023 and 2024, the kingdom hosted the Manama Masters, while in 2025, it staged the Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final for the very first time.
Later this year, Bahrain will once again be delighting basketball fans with the Manama Masters, scheduled for November 20 and 21.
This campaign’s finale will then take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 12 and 13.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh