It’s not just Day 3, it’s also D-Day in the 3×3 Basketball Tournament, the curtain of which drops tonight (Tuesday, September 12) at Heraklion Marina.
It is a historic night in the annals of the 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games and the sport, as 3×3 Basketball was included in the program of the event for the very first time.
Judging both by the level of the matches and by the interest and massive attendance of the people, there is no doubt that this first appearance on the stage is not only extremely successful, but also very promising.
The fans embraced the Tournament from the first moment, after all Heraklion and Crete in general can boast that they are a navel of the basketball land!
To prove Heraklion’s role as a popular basketball destination, here are the persuasions, i.e. the events that have been hosted here:
- FIBA Qualifying phase of European Junior Championship in 1990
- FIBA European cadet’s Championship in 2007
- All Star Weekend in 2010 and 2020
- International men’s tournament in memory of Giorgos Kolokithas
- International U15 Tournament “Friendship” in 2013
- EuroLeague matches, Panathinaikos-Lokomotiv Kuban in 2013, Olympiacos-Cedevita in 2015 and Olympiacos-Baskonia in 2017
- Crete’s International Basketball Tournament with the participation of EuroLeague teams in 2016, 2017 and 2018
- Men’s Basketball Cup Finals: Panathinaikos-Aris in 2014, AEK-Olympiakos in 2018, Panathinaikos-PAOK in 2019 and AEK-Promitheas in 2020
- FIBA men’s U20 European Championship in 2014
- FIBA men’s U19 World Championship in 2015
- Antetokounmbros Streetball Event in 2016
- FIBA men’s U20 European Championship in 2017
- FIBA men’s U19 World Championship in 2019
- World School’s Championship in 2019
- Men’s National team matches within the “windows” of the FIBA 2019 World Cup: Greece-Israel, Greece-Estonia, Greece-Great Britain, Greece-Serbia, Greece-Georgia.
- Men’s International Tournament in 2019.
- FIBA Women’s European Championship qualifying group (Greece, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Iceland) in 2020
- FIBA European Challenger men’s U20 in 2021
- FIBA women’s U18 European Challenger in 2021
- FIBA 3×3 Greece Tour, in 2021
- FIBA women’s U18 European Championship in 2022
- Official celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of FIBA on May 14, 2022
- FIBA men’s U20 European Championship in 2023
- World Deaf Championship in 2023.
- International Friendship Tournament for boys and girls in 2023
Of course, the basketball action in Heraklion does not stop with today’s conclusion of the 3×3 Tournament of the 3rd Mediterranean Coastal Games.
In ten days from today (September 22-23-24) the FIBA U17 men’s and women’s European Championship will take place in the city’s Marina.
Life goes on, so does basketball in Heraklion…
