Seef denied by Shanghai in last eight

TDT | Manama

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Bahrain champions Seef saw their Singapore Challenger 2026 campaign come to an end yesterday following a 21-11 quarter-final defeat to Shanghai.

The kingdom’s representatives had advanced to the last eight of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour event after splitting their two pool games, but were unable to overcome their Chinese opponents in the knockout stage.

Seef made a bright start, with Bogdan Dragovic sinking a two-pointer to open the scoring before Austin Ajukwa put them 3-1 ahead.

Shanghai responded to level the contest at 3-3, but Dragovic restored Seef’s advantage before the two sides were locked at 5-5.

The Chinese outfit then began to gain the upper hand, with Karlis Lasmanis scoring from beyond the arc to help establish an 8-5 lead.

Seef remained within striking distance as Ajukwa converted a two-pointer to cut the deficit to 8-7 and later struck again from long range to make it 13-10.

Shanghai, however, pulled away decisively from there.

Lasmanis made it 15-10 with another two-pointer and, after Uros Ilic briefly responded for Seef, Shanghai reeled off six unanswered points to reach the 21-point target and end the contest with three minutes still on the clock.

Pengcheng Lu was instrumental in the closing stretch, scoring five of those final six points before Yuanbo Zhu delivered the game-winning basket.

Ajukwa led Seef with six points, while Dragovic contributed four and Ilic added one. Elias Younes was held scoreless.

Lasmanis paced Shanghai with eight points and three rebounds, with Lu adding seven points and Zhu finishing with four points and five boards.

Shanghai went on to reach the semi-finals, where their run was ended by Hangzhou Jingwei in an 18-16 overtime defeat.

In the other semi-final, Toulouse defeated Amsterdam Rabobank 17-14 to set up a title showdown with Hangzhou.

The French side then produced a commanding performance in the final, beating Hangzhou 21-12 to capture the Singapore Challenger crown.

The result also meant Toulouse, Hangzhou and Shanghai secured the three qualification places on offer for the Malaga Masters in Spain, scheduled for October 10 and 11.

Seef had reached the quarter-finals after recovering from a 21-13 defeat to Amsterdam Rabobank in their Pool A opener to edge hosts Singapore 17-16 in dramatic fashion.

Their Singapore appearance followed their triumph in the Bahrain Summer Tour 2026 and continued the club’s involvement on the Fiba 3x3 international circuit for a second successive campaign.

Bahrain, meanwhile, has also established itself as a regular host of major 3x3 events, staging the Manama Masters in 2023 and 2024 before hosting the Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final for the first time last year.

The Manama Masters is set to return for its third edition on November 20 and 21.