Miami Beach ready for FIBA 3×3 World Tour Final

MIAMI, USA (FIBA 3×3 World Tour) – Sept 19, 2012: The first edition of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour will draw to a close from 21-23 September, with Miami Beach seeing one of the 12 best 3×3 basketball teams crowned champions and pocket USD 30,000 of the USD 40,000 total prize pot.

The teams, who qualified from the five World Tour stops played between July and September, have been divided into two pools of six for a standard round-robin group phase, with the top three teams from each progressing to the playoff round.

Pool A

Team: Qualified from:

Moscow (RUS) New York

Vladivostok (RUS) Vladivostok

Denver (USA) New York

Edmonton (CAN) New York

Vilnius (LTU) Istanbul

Ljubljana (SLO) Madrid

Pool B

Team: Qualified from:

Khabarovsk (RUS) Vladivostok

San Juan (PUR) New York

Neuquén (ARG) Sao Paulo

Bucharest UPB (ROM) Istanbul

Split (CRO) Madrid

Miami (USA) Wildcard

The event, which takes place on South Beach, off Collins Park, gets underway at 16:40 (EST) on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 September, and lasts until 21:00, while Finals Day (Sunday 23) begins at 15:30. The Grand Final is scheduled for 20:20.

Rounding off the elite competition, the Samsung Shoot-Out (Sunday, 19:50) sees the teams’ best shooters go head-to-head to provide a display of long-range accuracy, while the Nike Dunk Contest (Sunday, 20:00) brings together the tournament’s best dunkers as they compete for a chance to take on professional dunkers from around the world. Spectators and fans will also be treated to a wide range of entertainment and side activities.

Admission is free of charge.

The event website http://3x3worldtour.com will broadcast all of Sunday’s action live as well as providing comprehensive coverage of the competition including news, photos and videos.

About FIBA and 3×3 basketball

FIBA (http://fiba.com) – the world governing body for basketball – is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Exciting, urban and innovative, 3×3 basketball is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide. Endorsed by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a half-court.

It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore, while the first-ever FIBA 3×3 World Championships were held in Athens, Greece in August. The second edition of the FIBA 3×3 U18 World Championship, presented by Nike, will take place in Madrid, Spain from 28-30 September. —- FIBA