Riffa crash out

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BASKETBALL - BAHRAIN representatives Riffa were dealt a disheartening early exit yesterday from the Vienna stop of this year's Fiba 3x3 World Tour.

Bahraini star Mohammed Kowayed made history with the squad as he became the first-ever player from the kingdom to compete in international basketball's premier 3x3 series.

But he and his teammates could not avoid elimination, losing their two preliminary round games by just a single point each time. Riffa first suffered a 15-16 defeat to Amsterdam RABOBANK of the Netherlands, and then lost to Baskets Bonn Telekom from Germany 15-16 in overtime.

Kowayed took to the half-court at the Austrian capital both times, playing with Riffa's veteran standouts Dennis Donkor, Jonas Foerts, and Vic van Oosterwyck.

Vienna marked the fifth meeting on the 2025 campaign of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour, which is being held under the banner of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba).

Riffa were one of 12 teams in the competition's opening phase, where they played in Pool B alongside their Dutch and German rivals.

In their first fixture yesterday, the game went down to the wire after both sides matched each other point for point from the opening tip. A Donkor basket gave the kingdom's contingent a slim 15-14 edge with just over a minute-and-a-half remaining, but then Worthy de Jong tied it for Amsterdam with a basket the very next possession.

Amsterdam then got their winner on a de Jong free-throw with less than a half-minute to play, dashing Riffa's hopes.

Donkor finished as the team's leading scorer with five points, while Kowayed had an impressive four and both Foerts and van Oosterwyck finished with three apiece.

De Jong was the game's leading scorer, scoring eight for the victors.

Riffa were then determined to make up for that narrow loss and keep their bid to advance to the quarter-finals alive against Baskets Bonn.

A Donkor driving basket put them ahead 8-6 but the Germans battled back to tie it at 9-all. They stretched their lead to two points but Riffa roared back with successive two-pointers from Foerts and Donkor that gave them a slim 13-12 advantage. Van Oostweryck then had a game-saving driving lay-up with a second left in regulation to send the contest into overtime, deadlocked at 14-apiece.

In the extra session, which would be decided by the first team to score two points, van Oosterwyck was able to cancel out a basket by Fabian Giessmann. But the Germans fired in again to close the game out, with Giessmann supplying the decisive shot while being fouled.

Donkor and van Oosterwyck scored five points apiece for Riffa in the setback, while Foerts had four and Kowayed one point.

Giessmann finished with nine points to pace Baskets Bonn.

Amsterdam topped the Pool B standings heading into the round of eight after outclassing Baskets Bonn 21-11 in their meeting.

The competition's quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals are set to be held today.

This year's Fiba 3x3 World Tour has already made stops in Japan, China, the Netherlands, and France before Austria. It will then also be holding competitions in Mongolia, Hong Kong, Canada, Switzerland, Hungary, China, Macau, and the UAE, before heading to Bahrain for the Fiba 3x3 World Tour finale on November 21 and 22.

This year marks the first time ever that the kingdom will be staging the Fiba 3x3 World Tour curtain-closer, in which this year's champions will be crowned.