Oceania teams rule Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Love was in the air after New Zealand secured a historic triumph in the Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup men’s competition by beating South Korea 21-15 on April 5, with Most Valuable Player David Lewis giving a shout-out to his fiancee after the win.

The 22-year-old, who scored a game-high 10 points in the final, was close to tears when he told The Straits Times about Aroha. They were engaged since Feb 13.

“She’s made a lot of sacrifices for me to be able to be here, pretty much being a single mum while I’m gone.

“I’m so blessed. She inspires me, she works so hard and she’s got her hand in a lot of things. Being able to go home with the gold, it’s really satisfying, and it means I’m not doing work for nothing.”

Around 8,000 fans had packed The Kallang’s OCBC Square across five days of competition – the event will move to Mongolia after being staged in Singapore for five years – and many more were peering out of the Kallang Wave Mall’s second-storey foodcourt terrace to catch a glimpse of the knockout rounds on the final day.

In 3X3, which is played on a half-court, every made basket from inside the arc is worth one point, and every successful shot from behind the arc is worth two. The first team to score 21 points, or the side with more points at the end of the single 10-minute period, win.

And the supporters were not disappointed with the fast and furious action, with South Korea’s Lee Ju-yeong sustaining a cut lip following a stray elbow in their 18-15 quarter-final win over the Philippines earlier in the day.

The 22-year-old was taken to hospital and he missed his team’s 21-15 win over China in the semi-finals but rushed back to play in the final and contribute three points before returning to the hospital for stitches.

Still bleeding post-match but savouring his nation’s first medal in the tournament, he shared that he was also feeling the love as he watched his teammates hold up his jersey in his honour before the semi-final, which they slogged out with the minimum quota of three players.

He said via a translator: “I watched the match on my phone and I was crying. I returned for the final when I could because I wanted to contribute even in a small way. We never expected to reach the final, and we want the gold medal next.”

But the day belonged to New Zealand, who were more clinical from range to finally secure their first men’s title after losing in the 2017 and 2022 finals. They also reached the semi-finals in the three previous editions and claimed bronze in 2023 and 2025.

MVP Lewis credited their new philosophy and “sticking to our system”, and said: “We play defence, shoot twos, and win the game.”

In the women’s tournament, even with an entirely different team from the one who won in 2025, Australia romped to a fourth straight success to extend their record to six titles in nine editions by outclassing the Philippines 18-9 in the final.

But they had to survive a scare when they turned a 14-20 deficit in their semi-final against China into a 21-20 win on the back of three two-pointers by Amy Atwell, while teammate Kristy Wallace was named MVP.

In the final, they blew away the Philippines, who did well to bounce back after returning empty-handed from the 2025 SEA Games for a historic Asia Cup medal.

Atwell said: “It just goes to show how much heart this group has. Never once did we doubt ourselves, we just kept fighting. It was my teammates’ defence and passing that gave me open looks and I just did the easy part.

“This win also shows how much depth that we have, with this being a whole new group, and we wanted to come here and carry on the legacy.”

Earlier, Singapore’s first appearance in the women’s quarter-finals ended with a battling 16-12 defeat by top seeds China, after the hosts qualified by mixing a 19-16 win over Chinese Taipei with a 21-11 loss to Japan on April 3. The men’s team missed out on the knockout rounds after losing 20-16 to Japan and 21-19 to South Korea in the pool stage.

Ahead of the April 11-12 Fiba 3x3 World Cup qualifiers at the same venue, Singapore national 3x3 coach Lazar Rasic said: “We are improving, our style is good, and we need to lose this kind of games so that we learn how to win the next time. We need to be stable through the whole 10 minutes and to stick to the strategy.

“We will give our best to try to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in history. If not, it will still be a big learning experience for us because we want to play the big teams.”