The DeQing team from China has won the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 3x3 Xi'an Challenger 2026 in China, securing a ticket to the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Amsterdam 2026, on June 19-21.
The FIBA 3x3 website stated on Monday that DeQing defeated Phoenix from the United States (US) with a score of 22-17 in the final round.
Despite their losses, the Phoenix and Skyliners secured their tickets to Amsterdam. The three teams will begin the top-tier 3x3 tournament through qualifying.
In the Xi'an edition, DeQing were dominant throughout the tournament and capitalized on the support of their home crowd to claim the title in one of the strongest Challenger events of the season.
In the final round, DeQing immediately put pressure on and quickly took an 8-3 lead. Phoenix staged a comeback through Kyle Guy and Malik Hluchoweckyj, narrowing the score to 14-16.
However, DeQing responded with a 3-0 run to pull away. Guo Hanyu and Francis Lacis then secured a 22-17 victory with two minutes remaining.
Guo was DeQing's top scorer in the final with 10 points, while Zhang Dianliang was again consistent in controlling the tempo of the game on both ends of the court.
Zhang was named the tournament's best player (MVP) after scoring a total of 38 points, the most in Xi'an, and posting the highest total player value of 40.5.
In the semifinals, DeQing trailed 9-12 to the German Skyliners, led by Stefan Kojic. However, Lacis's final three points gave the Chinese team a narrow 18-16 victory.
Phoenix finished second after an impressive performance throughout the tournament through the duo of Kyle Guy and Eric Demers.
