Stolichnue, a team of Belarus media personalities, has won the Bright 3x3 Basketball Tournament, the third of many Bright Team events being organized by the Minsk European Games Organising Committee (MEGOC) in the lead up to next year’s European Games in Minsk, Belarus.
The one-day tournament featured eight teams in total. The teams were organized into two groups, A and B. Group A included teams from MEGOC, volunteer candidates for the European Games, the National State TV and Radio Company, and Zorki. Group B included teams from cinema chain Silver Screen (the official media partner of the 2nd European Games), MEGOC, the media, and Stolichnue.
The tournament was opened by MEGOC Deputy CEO Anatol Kotau and Ekaterina Snytsina, a member of the Belarus national women’s basketball team.
Kotau said: “We are very pleased that this tournament brought together eight teams. This indicates that the Bright Team project is gaining momentum and is of interest to many areas of society. We have many more events planned: In September, we will participate in the Minsk half marathon and dragon boat race. I am glad that many of our partners are responding to participate in the project, bringing their teams. As a result, we not only had fun participating in the event but also used it as a team-building exercise ahead of the 2nd European Games.”
Entertainment was provided by the Ice Girls cheerleaders of the Dinamo-Minsk hockey team. The competition was fierce and the results from the group stage were at times very unexpected. In the end, MEGOC team #1 and the National State TV and Radio Company advanced to the knockout stage from Group A, with Silver Screen and Stolichnue progressing from Group B.
While the teams were preparing themselves for the semifinals, the spectators, which included kids from the SOS Children’s Village in Marina Gorka, had an opportunity to watch a game featuring the basketball veteran team Overtime. Andrei Snytsin held a brief master class before the Silver Screen, Zorki, and Stolichnue teams gave gifts to the children.
In the first semifinal, Stolichnue beat MEGOC team #1 13-7. In the second semifinal, Silver Screen outlasted National State TV and Radio Company 11-10. National State TV and Radio then went on to win the battle for third place 17-10 over MEGOC. In the final, Stolichnue battled hard to pip Silver Screen 9-8.
Pavel Satyrov from MEGOC team #1 was named tournament MVP, while Andrei Kushnerov from Zorki was awarded the special prize ‘For the will to win’.
The Bright 3x3 Basketball tournament took place at the Palova Arena, which will host the 3x3 Basketball games during the 2nd European Games next 21-30 June. Gifts for the tournament participants were provided by Silver Screen. The sound system for the event was provided by the company Horoshij Zvuk.
The Bright Team project began on 1 August with a Bright Beach Soccer tournament, which was successfully held at the Olympic Sports Complex. On August 14, the project continued with Bright Judo Training led by European champion Marina Slutskaya.
The Bright Team project aims to involve the people of Belarus in friendly sporting encounters and to draw public attention to the European Games, which will feature the following sports: 3x3 basketball, archery, athletics, badminton, beach soccer, boxing, canoe sprint, cycling, gymnastics, judo, karate, sambo, shooting, table tennis and wrestling.