Izuchukwu OkosiAmsterdam HiPRO, from the Netherlands, won their first World Tour Masters since 2021 with a 17 – 21 victory over Raudondvaris Hoptrans at the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Hong Kong Masters 2023 on November 26.
The feat comes ahead of the World Tour Final taking place in Jeddah on December 8 – 9.
The Dutch side came through with the victory after a grueling path to the final.
They went 2-0 in the pool phase with wins over Jeddah and Lausanne before getting it done against the American sides of Princeton and Omaha.
In the final, they took on the experienced and ever-so-clutch Raudondvaris who had beaten Giants on their way to the final, including 6-Masters winners Ub.
Amsterdam, led by Worthy De Jong, showcased their urgency early as he boasted his defensive chops with a steal and dime for Julian Jaring. Driessen followed quickly with an and-one finish to extend the team advantage. Worthy drained a two to make it 2 – 5 to the Dutchmen. Not to be outdone, Paulius Beliavicius struck back with a deep shot of his own.
The game continued its back-and-forth exchange, with the Lithuanian side taking the lead at certain points thanks to Aurelijus Pukelis taking on the offensive charge.
Driessen and De Jong combined well to keep the pace while Arvin Slagter supported with crucial buckets of his own, the most important one coming with the score 13 – 15 to grant his side the 4-point lead. It opened the floodgates as De Jong and Driessen drained buckets to make it 15 – 20.
Jaring had the last word as his drive and floater iced the game, finishing 17 – 21 in favor of Amsterdam.
Worthy De Jong all season has been immense for his side. It all came together in Hong Kong. He finished as top scorer with 46 while also leading in Player Value with 43.4. His defensive effort coupled with an on-fire offensive display made him undeniably the MVP of the event.
In the Individual contests, Ignas Razutis (Plunge) won the Mongolian Mining Corporation Shoot-Out Contest while Wan Lei (CHN) won the Maurice Lacroix dunk contest.@a
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Amsterdam HiPRO (NED)
2. Raudondvaris Hoptrans (LTU)
3. Ub Huishan NE (SRB)
4. Omaha (USA)
5. Lausanne Sport LS (SUI)
6. Paris (FRA)
7. Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy (MGL)
8. Princeton (USA)
9. Plunge (LTU)
10. Antwerp TOPDesk (BEL)
11. Hangzhou (CHN)
12. Jeddah (KSA)
13. Podgorica Kodio (MNE)
14. Zagreb 3BL (CRO)
15. Wu Kai Sha (HKG)
16. North Jakarta Tokopedia (INA)
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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