JEDDAH — Riga won the 9th edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after defeating Liman (SRB) in the championship game on Saturday on an unbelievable Tissot Buzzer Beater, winning 21-20.

Just a month after beating Liman at the buzzer in the final of the Doha Masters, the Latvians did it again.

With their back against the wall as Liman needed just one basket to win, the Jeddah Final MVP Nauris Miezis hit an incredible one-legged shot from well beyond the arc, good for the $60,000 winning check.

The 'Batman and Robin' of 3x3 shone in Jeddah as Karlis Lasmanis aka 'Batman' topped all scorers with 37 points.

Riga put an exclamation point on an amazing season that saw them win 2 of the 4 Masters. After starting the season 9-3, they finished on a 10-game winning streak in Doha and Jeddah

Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal was in attendance during the final, the first international sporting event in Saudi Arabia since the start of the pandemic.

On this occasion, the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the Saudi Olympic Committee, said after the conclusion of the tournament: “This tournament is added to a number of sports events hosted by the Kingdom recently, and we very proud to hold such many world championships here in the Kingdom despite the current circumstances. We are hoping to see the sports scene to return to normal and the see our spectators return to stadiums.”

He also added: "We always strive to cooperate with international federations to bring what is best in the world here in front of our fans, the FIBA 3 × 3 games, which is considered as one of the fastest basketball games in development and hope we continue our partnership with them. In the meantime, we are keen to continue in bringing the best of all the international tournaments that enjoy global popularity. "

The minister continued, "The ministry is interested in everything that adds to Saudi sports and basketball in the Kingdom, and we seek to bring a world championship of the highest levels, and we promise everyone that in the future we will host some spectacular and entertaining club competitions."

In the final ceremony, Abdulrahman Al-Masaad, chairman of the Saudi Basketball Federation, presented awards to winners. The 3x3 enthusiasts worldwide were given a chance to attend the event as their videos were displayed on the giant screens during the prestigious two-day event.

The ninth and fifth round of the 3×3 World Basketball Championship Finals, which began in Jeddah on Friday, concluded on Saturday with the participation of the best 12 teams in the world. The world tour was organized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Basketball Federation, and with support of (Quality of life program).

Al-Massad and Ignacio Soriano, president of Events and Partnership 3x3 in the International Basketball Federation, crowned the winning teams. The tournament’s prizes totaled $ 250,000, with the winner getting $60,000, the second-place winner $40,000, and the third $28,000, in addition to cash prizes for those with positions from 4 to 6.

Aseel Al-Omran, director general of marketing department in the Quality of Life Program, presented the award for best player in the Dunk competition. In the individual contests, Piotr "Grabo" Grabowski (POL) won the Quality of Life Dunk Contest while Stefan Kojic (Liman) won the SBF Shoot-out contest. — SG