Singapore qualify for Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup quarter-finals after win over Hong Kong
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Haribon Espinosa (right) scored six points to help Singapore beat Hong Kong 21-16 in their Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup Pool A opener.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS HUB
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SINGAPORE – For only the second time in local basketball history, Singapore are in the quarter-finals of the Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup men’s competition.
On March 29, they beat Hong Kong 21-16 in their Pool A opener at the OCBC Square. Later in the day, 2023 champions Mongolia defeated Singapore (22-10) and Hong Kong (22-8) to top the group and advance to the last eight. They will meet Australia on March 30, with the last day of competition to decide the champions for 2025.
Singapore are also through to the quarter-finals after finishing runners-up in Pool A and the hosts will face Japan in a bid to improve on their best finish – they also made the last eight in 2023 – and secure a historic semi-final berth.
Against qualifiers Hong Kong, they got off to a rousing start in front of a vociferous home crowd, when Nur Aufa Emil Putra sank a two-pointer. Buckets from captain Kelvin Lim and Liam Blakney extended Singapore’s lead to 5-0 before the visitors responded through Lam Chun Tat.
Leading 17-13 with three minutes remaining, Singapore were four points away from reaching the 21 points needed to win the game when they ran into foul trouble after accumulating their seventh, allowing Hong Kong to narrow the deficit to 17-15.
But Lim and Blakney prevented any comeback by scoring and naturalised player Haribon Espinosa ended the affair with over a minute to spare with a two-pointer. He ended the game as joint-top scorer with Lim and Lam on six points.
The 24-year-old, who was born in the Philippines and received his citizenship in 2023, said after the Mongolia game: “It was a tough loss, but we still have high hopes and we’re still in high spirits.
“Mongolia are a tough team, a really experienced team, and we are undersized, but our effort will always be there. Whichever team we face... we will have a fighting chance because of our effort, we just have to tidy a few things offensively.”
On March 28, the Singapore women’s team were knocked out of the group stage after they lost 22-6 and 21-10 to Japan and Vietnam respectively.
David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.
