Team Lusail marched into the quarter-finals of the FIBA 3x3 Doha Masters yesterday at the Gharafa Beach Games Area.
The hosts lost their first Pool ‘A’ match to No 1 seed Liman 8-21, but came back strongly in the second to beat Team Manila 19-14 and secure a last-8 spot in the two-day event.
The Qatar team will meet Utena Uniclub today at 5.45pm. Serbia’s Liman, who won their first match against Manila 25-15, will meet Lausanne in another quarter-final match. Team Lusail coach Mohamed Salim Abdulla was all praise for his players.
“They played like a team after losing first game. I am satisfied with their performance today,” said Abdulla, who was a part of the Qatar national team that lifted the FIBA 3×3 World Championships title in 2014 in Moscow.
In Pool ‘B’, the defending champions Riga, who defeated Liman in the last year’s final, beat Jeddah 22-15 and Yoyogi 21-15.
Last year’s World Tour Finals runners-up Princeton from USA defeated Germany’s Bielefeld 21-16 and Ubi 21-20 in their Pool ‘D’ matches.
RESULTS
POOL A: Liman (SER) bt Lusail (QAT) 21-8; Liman bt Manila Chooks (PHI) 22-15; Lusail bt Manila Chooks 19-14
POOL B: Riga (LAT) bt Voyogi Crayon EXE (JPN) 21-15; Riga bt Jeddah (KSA) 22-15; Jeddah bt Voyogi Crayon EXE 18-16
POOL C: Utena Uniclub (LTU) bt New York Harlems (USA) 21-8; Lausanne Katapult (SUI) bt New York Harlems 22-7; Utena Uniclub bt Lausanne Katapult 21-18
POOL D: Princeton (USA) bt Bielefeld LFDY (GER) 21-16; Princeton bt UB (SER) 21-20; Bielefeld LFDY bt UB 22-10
Action from Team Lusail’s matches yesterday at the Al Gharafa Beach Games Area.
