Netherlands U25 were crowned champions of the inaugural FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Singapore after defeating Slovenia 16-14 in overtime during a thrilling final on Friday evening.

The Dutch side completed an unbeaten run in Singapore, beating Brazil and the top seeds, Ulaanbaatar Amazons, in the knockout rounds before edging out Slovenia in the final match.

Fittingly, it was 23-year-old Quinta van Schijndel who delivered the decisive shot. Having also scored the overtime winner in Netherlands U25’s opening 9-8 victory over China a day earlier, she again struck from beyond the arc to seal the title.

Netherlands U25, featuring Lotte Toornstra, Alissa van Duijn, Hennie van Schaik, and van Schijndel, faced a determined Slovenia side in a closely fought final.

Slovenia held the advantage for much of the contest and opened up a 12-7 lead, putting the Dutch side under pressure as the game entered its final minutes. 

Netherlands U25 refused to let the game slip away. Van Schaik pulled her side back into contention with a two-pointer, making it 13-11, before van Schijndel reduced the deficit to one.

Slovenia restored their two-point cushion at 14-12, but van Schaik responded with another two-pointer, levelling the scores at 14-14 and sending the final into overtime.

With the first team to score two points in overtime taking the win, van Schijndel needed just one shot, connecting from beyond the arc to seal a dramatic 16-14 win and the Singapore title.

Van Schijndel said: “Our coach always tells us, ‘Keep shooting, keep shooting. The balls will fall.’ I took a shot before that and missed it, then got the opportunity again, so I made it.

“I think we also got better and better throughout the tournament. We stayed together as a team, watched film and kept improving every game. It was a great tournament, and Singapore has been really good to us. I’ve loved being here, and it’s been a great experience overall.”

It completed a perfect five-win campaign for Netherlands U25, who also defeated Singapore 21-14 in the pool stage, before beating Brazil 19-6 in the quarter-finals and Ulaanbaatar Amazons 18-16 in the semi-finals.

The conclusion of the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Singapore marks the halfway point of four consecutive days of international 3×3 action in Singapore.

Attention now turns to the FIBA 3×3 Singapore Challenger on 15 and 16 August, the second Challenger event staged in Singapore this year. The tournament will feature 16 teams from 15 countries, with the top three qualifying for the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Malaga.

Singapore will be represented by Zhenyu Ching, Xu Duanyang, Nur Aufa Emil and Mohamed Zahid, who recently competed at the Commonwealth Games and were part of Singapore’s SEA Games silver-medal-winning team.