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The Hoptrans 3×3 tournament, which starts next week, should become one of the biggest basketball trio events in Lithuanian history.
Although interest in this sport in Lithuania has started to grow especially in recent years, there is no shortage of achievements in 3×3 basketball in our country.
The first major achievement was achieved in 2003. Then the then trio Vilnius “Falcon” – Rolandas Skaisgirys, Erikas Kučiauskas and Rolandas Matulis together with Kęstutis Girštautas brought the gold of the 3on3 World Cup tournament in Italy. FIBA later recognized the tournament as a world championship, but did not organize its own tournament.
The basketball trio in Lithuania is inseparable from the surname of former player Mindaugas Budzinauskas. While still a player, he won several official and unofficial tournaments along with his teammates Darius Čiūta, Žygimantas Jonušs, Rytis Pulkauninkas, Mykolas Jasasaitis, Vitalijus Lukša and Paulius Joneliūnas.
The most significant victories for the Budzinauskas teams are two 3on3 World Cups won in 2006 and 2008, they won the Moscow Open and Tallinn Open tournaments, they participated in the first official final stage of the FIBA World Tour in 2012.
Rolandas Jarutis, the director of Vilnius Rytas, also participated in several tournaments with this team. According to Jarutis, 3×3 basketball has progressed significantly since then.
“I played until I signed a contract in professional basketball, which made me unable to help my colleagues,” Jarutis said. – Then the conditions were much worse, only in terms of poor quality cladding or a roof over the site that was not there. Now it is an Olympic sport, so the conditions are better. “
After Budzinauskas hung up sneakers and began his coaching career, the younger generation took over.
Generation of winners.
2014 Kaunas star Kristupas Zemaitis shined at the Nanjing Summer Youth Olympic Games. Along with the Lithuanian youth team, which also featured Jonas Lekšas, Martynas Sajus and Justas Vazalis, he marched to the final of the tournament, where he won the gold medals for the Lithuanians with an impressive long shot to the French basket.
In the same year, the FIBA 3×3 European Basketball Championship was held for the first time. Then, led by elite 3×3 basketball player Ovidijus Varanauskas and trained by Budzinauskas, the Lithuanians won bronze medals in their debut championship.
However, the Varanauskas team’s achievements did not end here. In 2015, the Vilnius resident took his city team to the podium on the 3×3 stage of the Lausanne world tour, adding the MVP award to the team title.
Both Žemaitis and Varanauskas will return to threesome fights in the Hoptrans 3×3 tournament this year after a long break, where they will represent teams Kėdainiai and Pasvalys, respectively.
Olympic qualification
An important step in the development of the basketball trio was taken in 2017 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopted 3×3 basketball into the family of Olympic sports.
Such an event also led to increased attention to the basketball trio in Lithuania. Players began to train more actively in 3×3 teams and to participate in local and international tournaments, where they successfully represented their clubs and Lithuania.
One of those players is Evaldas Džiaugys, who will represent the Prienai team in the Hoptrans 3×3 tournament. “The increase in level in the last year has been felt,” Džiaugys said. “We have up to five teams that can accumulate qualification points and increase Lithuania’s prestige.”
The best 3×3 basketball team in Lithuania has been Šakiai “Gulbelė” for some time. The four players on this team, Paulius Beliavičius, Aurelijus Pukelis, Marijus Užupis and Šarūnas Vingelis, are among the top 40 3×3 basketball players, and “Gulbelė” ranks sixth among teams worldwide.
The Lithuanian national team, based on the Šakiai team, won bronze medals at the European Championship last September. Gulbel also triumphed on the Montreal World Tour. In total, last season, more than 100,000 people separated. from the prizes of various tournaments.
In 2019, Gulbelė was not the only team spoiled by victories: the Vytautas Magnus University student team triumphed in the 3×3 European Student Championship, and the U18 boys team became the European Champion, so this year was probably the most successful for fast growing Lithuanian trio basketball.
Finally, after the end of the regular season earlier than planned this year, the attention of basketball fans will turn to Palanga in July, where twelve teams will battle for the Hoptrans 3×3 trophy.
“Now is the best time, everyone longs for basketball, so you can pay attention to threesome fights. Especially when they became an Olympic sport, ”Džiaugys looked optimistically at the Hoptrans 3×3 tournament.
The first stage of the Hoptrans 3×3 tournament in Palanga will begin on July 3.
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