JEDDAH, 17 December 2007 — The Gold’s Gym Three-on-three Men’s Street Basketball Tournament drew to a close on Wednesday with the staging of the semifinals and finals here.
The five-day tournament ran from Saturday through Wednesday, and had some of the best players in Jeddah in action. The 20 teams each played five games before making it to the 8-team knockout round. When the smoke cleared the final four were: Nadim Sultani’s team, Nadim, Mustafa Khan, Raed Hawsawi, and Abdul Aziz Zahrani. Shadi’s team, Shadi Abou Faraj, Waleed Khattab, and Fadi Taweel. Amin Bahartha’s Jeddah United team, Amin, Jeremiah, Kris Jettner, Hussian Mustafa, and Faris Nadif’s Ittihad team, Faris, Sari Shamri, Abdullah Bahay and Mohamad Shamrani.
In the semis, Amin’s JU team beat Faris and his Ittihad team 17-11. Shadi’s team edged out Nadim’s team by one 25-24.
In the history of three-man basketball in Jeddah Shadi’s team have won or came in second place in the last six years. Nadim’s team won at Iceland last year and this year. Amin’s Jeddah United placed second at Iceland this year. Gold’s Gym had the toughest players in town.
The final was Amin’s Jeddah United against Shadi’s Gold’s Gym team. At halftime, Shadi’s Gold’s Gym had the lead 11-8. In the second half, Jeddah United squeaked out the victory 26-25. It was a tough game with 13 lead changes in the last half. In the three-point shootout, Abdul Aziz Zahrani won by one shot making 6 out of 10. JU’s Amin, Kris, and Abdul Rahman all had 5 out of 10. A welcomed newcomer to Jeddah, Mark Williams, wowed the crowd winning the slam dunk contest by jumping over a player and slamming the ball down. Waleed Al-Rahswan was the chief referee along with Umar Abdul Salam, and Captain Assad the organizer kept things in check. The first-place team received SR 15,000 in cash, trophies, and prizes.
