FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series heats up in Voiron

VOIRON (France) - If you liked the return of the Women’s Series last week, then you’ll really like what we have in store.

Former champions and newcomers alike will head to Voiron, France May 21-22 for the second Women's Series Stop of the season with the Olympics looming large. As the 3x3 schedule begins to fill up once again, we're treating the fans to the best women's 3x3 basketball on the planet. The icing on the cake? This stop will feature not just 8 teams as usual but a total of 12 teams! More stars, more games!

 

Here is what we are looking forward to...

The champs are back!

France are making their first appearance at the Women’s Series 2021 after winning the 2019 season, including 6 of 9 Stops. Migna Touré, the 2019 MVP (and new Wilson ambassador), and world number one player Laetitia Guapo are back and will feel right at home in Voiron. They are joined by world #6, Marie-Eve Paget and a new face on the Series, Soana Lucet. 

 

The Pools

Pool A: France (1), Spain (8), Canada (9)
Pool B: Russia (2), Poland (7), Switzerland (10)
Pool C: Netherlands (3), Mongolia (6), Slovakia (11)
Pool D: Romania (4), Russia U25 (5), Israel (12)

The Field

Pool A offers the most compelling matchups, and dare we call it… the Pool of death. 

France is yet to be knocked off their thrown, but did you see Spain play in Mies? They were scary good. They had tiki-taka on full display and Sandra Ygueravide was balling. Speaking of scary, the Plouffe sisters straight dominated at the Women's Series two years ago and are out to prove they're the best in 3x3.

 

Poland is another team on our radar after finishing second at Mies. This said, the top rebounder in Switzerland Klaudia Sosnowska is the only player left from that squad and we'll see a lot of news faces for Poland in France. Russia, the third-place finisher has positive momentum after a solid performance in Switzerland but will also make two replacements. You'll be glad to hear 28-year-old sharpshooter Alexandra Stolyar is back on the 3x3 court too. You might also notice that there is a second Russian team in the field. Russia U25 qualified for the event thanks to winning the U23 Nations League 2019. 

Fun fact: this means this event will feature two pairs of twin sisters (the Plouffes for Canada, the Frolkinas for Russia).

Other top contenders include the Netherlands, Mongolia, and Romania. 

 

Finally, it’s a debut at the Women’s Series for Israel and Slovakia, a couple of underdogs looking to make history.

Olympic Previews?

The event is taking place in France, but we all have Japan on our minds. So far, the Russian Olympic Committee, Romania, and Mongolia have already qualified for the Olympic Games, so they can rest easy.

France, Spain, Netherlands, and Switzerland are all trying to sharpen their games ahead of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament taking place in Graz, Austria on May 26-30. 

Will we see a future Olympic matchup in Voiron?

 

How to Follow

The action starts on May 21st, and you can live stream the event on the official FIBA Twitch Channel, FIBA 3x3 YouTube and Facebook pages. Make sure to follow @FIBA3x3W on Instagram as well, the official women's account of FIBA 3x3.

FIBA