Japanese team featuring Latvians Raimo and Gludītis advances to 3x3 basketball quarterfinals
The Japanese 3x3 basketball team "Shibuya", which includes Latvian players Raimo and Gludītis, progressed through qualification and the group stage to reach the playoff round. Sunday's finals will determine which teams qualify for the season-ending "Masters" event in China.
Japanese team "Shibuya", seeded tenth in the 3x3 basketball tournament and featuring Latvian players Raimo and Gludītis, has secured a spot in the quarterfinals.
The team began in the qualification round, defeating Indonesia's "Balige" (seeded 16th) 21:9. In the second qualifying match, "Shibuya" beat the American team "Phoenix" (seeded 9th) 21:12. In these two games, Gludītis scored nine and ten points respectively, while Raimo scored four and two points.
Group stage
In Group D of the main tournament, "Shibuya" defeated the host team "Taipei WanBao" (seeded 5th) 21:15. In the second group match, the Japanese team lost 19:22 to Serbia's "Crvena zvezda" (seeded 6th). In both of these matches, Raimo and Gludītis scored equal amounts of points - three each in the first game and four each in the second.
Despite the loss in the second group game, "Shibuya" earned a place in the knockout stage. The decisive matches will take place on Sunday, with the top three teams securing spots at the "Masters" tournament in China at the end of the month.
