3x3 Europe Cup Qualifiers begin for GB Basketball

Both the Men’s and Women’s 3x3 teams will compete in Slovakia for qualification to the Europe Cup 2026, hosted in Antwerp, Belgium.

GB Men play both of their two fixtures in Pool A on 7 June, taking on Slovakia at 4:00 pm (BST) before facing Lithuania at 6:25 pm (BST). They will have to top their pool in order to qualify for the knock-out stages of the qualifiers and give themselves a chance at reaching the Europe Cup.

Having enjoyed a successful World Cup qualification campaign last month, Head Coach Olaniyan will feel confident of recreating such high-level performances.

GB lost their first match against a strong Canada side, but defeated the hosts, Azerbaijan, to extend their qualification hopes. Again, they were overpowered by a fluid Montenegrin offence; however, a dominant showing from Ashley Hamilton carried GB through against the dynamic Rwandan team to ensure qualification.

Slovakia are ranked 33rd amongst Men’s 3x3 sides and thus will prove a significant challenge for Hamilton and co. Rather than boasting a singular star talent, Slovakia rely on their collective quality and cohesion to win games. This will be the first time the two nations have met in the 3x3 format.

Lithuania, on the other hand, is home to a wealth of high-ranking talent. Aurelijus Pukelis, ranked 11th in the world, and Evaldas Džiaugys, ranked 12th, will no doubt lead their country in this upcoming fixture, as they did when Lithuania came third in the Europe Cup 2024.

The squad available for Coach Olaniyan to select from is:

Ashley Hamilton

Hafeez Abdul

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye

Victor Ndoukou

GB Women will play their first 3x3 matches of the year, competing in Pool A alongside Italy, Israel, Lithuania, and Slovenia. The winners of the pool will immediately qualify for the Europe Cup 2025, whilst the two second-place teams will play a deciding fixture to earn the final qualification spot.

GB will play 3 matches on 7 June, Israel at 9:10 am (BST), Slovenia at 12:20 pm (BST), and Lithuania at 3:15 pm (BST). On 8 June, they will play Italy at 1:05 pm (BST) to round out Pool A.

Italy are the highest ranked team in Pool A at 11th, and may prove the most challenging opponents for Head Coach Krumesh Patel. Nevertheless, GB will be determined to secure qualification after their failure to do so in 2024.

These are the players Coach Patel has selected:

Marlee Ball

Tia Freeman

Nina Rickard

Sydney Wallace

The games can be watched live on the FIBA YouTube here.