The Dutch men and Australian women earned two of the last remaining quotas* for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 clinching victories in their respective finals at the FIBA 3×3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 in Utsunomiya, Japan.
The Netherlands will now join the United States, Serbia, China and Latvia as confirmed nations for the Paris 2024 men’s 3×3 basketball tournament. The side delivered a measured performance beating former World Cup silver medallists Lithuania 19-15 in the final.
Arvin Slagter and Jan Driessen produced the goods for the Dutch contributing six points apiece to their score. Worthy de Jong, who was named MVP of the tournament with 42 points, landed four points in the final.
The sides were neck and neck in the early moments of the match before they found their rhythm and opened a comfortable lead that proved enough for the win.
In the women’s tournament, Australia claimed a narrow 19-16 victory over Canada to obtain their Paris 2024 quota. The United States, France, China and Azerbaijan have already qualified.
Ally Wilson and Marena Wilson were on song for the Australians with eight points each to give their side the edge over the Canadians. It was a one-point game until the bitter end before two Wilson free throws sealed the victory.
Australia’s Anneli Maley was named MVP in Japan leading the competition in player value with 34.4.
***As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes’ participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
