Picture Credit: FIBA
After two successful editions, the first leg of exciting FIBA E-sports Open III took place from April 16-18. A total of 18 teams were in action as three regional conferences got underway. While Egypt emerged as champions in the Africa conference, Philippines and Saudi Arabia won the South-East Asia and Middle-East conferences, respectively, in an action-packed weekend.
Huge upset for defending champions in Africa
In the Africa conference of the online tournament, Egypt secured a remarkable 2-1 win victory in a high-voltage final tie against last edition's champions Ivory Coast. After an early defeat in the tournament at the hands of Tunisia (69-61), the boys from Egypt bounced back in style to eventually win the conference, which had Madagascar, Togo and Gabon as other participating nations.
Philippines reclaims South-East Asian Conference title
Last edition's runners-up Philippines produced an absolute masterclass against arch-rivals Indonesia in the finals of South-East Asian conference. They won the best-of-three championship, 60-53, 44-36 and reclaimed the title, having won the inaugural edition as well. Overall, it was a brilliant team effort as Rial Polog Jr., Philippe Herrero, Custer Galas and Arnie Sison made valuable contributions throughout the tournament.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia continued their dominance in the Middle-East conference as they comfortably defeated Bahrain in the finals. After an exciting start to FIBA Esports Open III, the action will now shift to the other conferences. Next up, it will be the North & Central America (Current Generation) and Europe (Current Generation) conferences which are scheduled for April 23-25. The Open will see it final leg on May 7-9 with the North & Central America (Next Gen), Europe (Next Gen) and South America tournaments.