It was always going to be a tall order for Singapore’s women’s 3×3 team to top their dramatic overtime pool-stage win over Brazil on Saturday (Apr 11) night that sent them to the final-day knockouts of the FIBA 3×3 World Cup Qualifiers.
The job was far from done for the national cagers, who needed just one more win on Sunday (Apr 12) to secure one of three tickets to the global showpiece.
But they fell at the final hurdle in their bid for a historic World Cup berth, suffering a 21-13 defeat by a Vivien Borondy-inspired Hungary side (world No.13) – despite leading 8-7 in the early proceedings – before losing 21-10 to recent Asia Cup runners-up the Philippines (18).
Hungary and the Philippines progressed alongside Lithuania as the three successful qualifiers for the 20-team World Cup, set for June in Warsaw, while Brazil, Czechia and New Zealand earned their spots in the men’s competition.
Singapore head coach Lazar Rasic was gutted by the manner of the defeat, struggling to hide his disappointment as he fielded questions in the mixed zone.
“For the women’s team, both games they played yesterday were good… I strongly believe if we came out today similar to yesterday, we would be in the World Cup,” Rasic said, referring to a tight 21-19 pool loss to the Philippines and their victory over Brazil later that evening.
“I can understand that they are young and lack experience. It is tough, after winning the game against Brazil, to find the motivation again for the next day. I believed this was the reason for the performance,” he added.
The look of disappointment on the 20th-ranked side stood in stark contrast to the ecstasy a day earlier, when an overtime two-pointer by Han Xingyue sealed a crucial win over Brazil.
Conceding that the team strayed from the game plan towards the end of their decisive match against the Philippines, Han said foul trouble proved costly, having committed nine against Hungary and seven against the Philippines.
“We tried our best to front them and push them out of the paint and to minimise our turnovers,” Han said.
“We had six fouls in less than four minutes (against the Philippines). So that definitely impacted the game, and we couldn’t defend as hard at the end of the game compared to the start,” she added.
Rasic concurred on the team’s tendency to give away fouls lightly and their response to those situations.
“(The players) are young… Even though we are giving instructions, they cannot maintain their concentration throughout the whole game. Then we got into bad foul situations, and that cost us the game against Czechia. Even in the second game (against the Philippines), we had slightly better control of the fouls, but also a lot of misses from open shots.”
But it was not all for nought as the players were able to cut their teeth against top opposition throughout their qualifying campaign, even earning praise from their opponents.
“They’re super magical shooters… playing Singapore is tough, and we learned so much from them,” said Afril Bernardino, a SEA Games gold medallist in both 3×3 and 5v5 formats.
Hungarian Borondy, who featured in the 2023 World Cup, also said the Singaporeans put up stiff resistance, which was only eased after the hosts exceeded six team fouls, giving Hungary two free throws for each subsequent foul.
“It was easier in the second half of the game. But still, they were a really good team. It was hard to play against them in front of this crowd because the fans were amazing,” Borondy said.
Meanwhile, the men’s team dropped out of contention for a World Cup spot on Saturday after two pool-stage losses, going down 20-10 to Czechia and 19-11 to Brazil.
“Sadly, I think we only showed effort; we didn’t get to show the technical part (of our game). I think we are missing out on experience as always. It was a below-average performance as a team in this competition. But as athletes, that’s part of the game, and we will focus on the next one,” Nur Aufa Emil Putra said.
There will, however, be a silver lining with Singapore set to host next year’s World Cup, which will automatically grant both teams a place as hosts.
In preparation for that, competitions come thick and fast for both teams, with the men heading to the Apr 18-19 Shibuya City Challenger, while both are set for appearances at the Apr 22-30 Asian Beach Games.
