The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) has confirmed via a release to the media on Wednesday, that a four-man 3×3 National Team will compete at the inaugural Caribbean Under23 Games in Guadeloupe
Guyana will be among eight countries participating in the 3×3 Basketball event at the Games scheduled from June 29 – June 3 at the Gymnase De Boisripeaux in Les Abymes.
The Caribbean Games are being organised by the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC). The five-day meet fulfills the dreams of sports leaders in the Caribbean to organise multisport games for the region.
The Southern Games staged over a decade ago in Guaracara Park, Trinidad, featured only Athletics and Cycling.
The Caribbean Games, however, will feature seven disciplines – Athletics, 3×3 Basketball, Cycling, Futsal, Judo, Swimming, and Netball, with demonstrations of handisport and e-sport.
The Guyana 3×3 Basketball U-23 National Team will be led by team captain, Stanton Rose, Timothy Thompson, Yonnick Tappin and Kimol Grimmond.
The Head of the 3×3 Basketball Delegation will be the GABF Youth and 3×3 Coordinator, Sileena Arjune.
All four players along with the 3×3 Coordinator returned from Suriname Tuesday after successfully securing their French Visas which will allow them to enter the French territory of Guadeloupe.
The GABF organised four friendly games against the Suriname 3×3 U23 National team where Guyana defeated Suriname 3-1.
Guyana lost Game one, 15-22 but, bounced back by handing Suriname three consecutive losses, 21-11, 18-7, and 18-16.
GABF Secretary-General, Patrick Haynes said, “A Caribbean-oriented multi-sports event was a long time in the making, and we at the GABF are pleased to see that it is finally set to become a reality this month. These Games will afford our athletes an opportunity to compete against the region’s elite athletes and provide another valuable opportunity for them to gain international experience in competition.”
The National Teams were previously placed in pairs taking into account their FIBA 3×3 U23 Caribbean Ranking position.
Then the teams and their spot were drawn to define the matchups.
Group A: Guyana, Saint Lucia, Cuba, Guadeloupe,
Group B: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Jamaica
The top two teams from each group will advance to the Semi-Finals while the rest will compete for the 5-8 spots.
In the Semi-Finals, the top two teams from each group will face the second team of each opposing group (1A vs 2B and 1B vs 2A).
The semi-final winners will qualify for the gold medal game, while the losers will play for third place and the bronze medal.
