Champion Riga Ghetto team members pose for a photograph with Qatari officials after the Latvians won their maiden Masters title, defeating the Serbian world No.1 Liman 15-14 in a tense final of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters at the Katara Amphitheat
Latvia’s Riga Ghetto won their maiden Masters title after defeating the Serbian world No.1 Liman 15-14 in a tense final of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters yesterday.
In a spectacular start to the season at the Katara Amphitheatre, it was a hard-fought, low-scoring game but the world No.3 finally tasted glory and were brilliantly led by Karlis Lasmanis who scored an equal game-high 8 points. He hit clutch buckets and deservedly claimed the MVP after leading all scorers with 39 points in the tournament.
Liman were unable to get revenge after losing to Riga Ghetto in the quarter-final of the Bloomage Final in Beijing last year.
Without injured star Stefan Stojacic, Liman had ended rival Novi Sad’s 35-game winning streak with a tough 20-17 victory in a dramatic semi-final.
After the second placed finishes in 2018, the Latvians broke through and also took home the $30,000 cheque.
In the individual contests, Stefan Kojic (Liman, SRB) won the shoot-out, while Ukranian Vadim ‘Miller’ Poddubchenko won a thrilling dunk contest over David Carlos from the Philippines.
