‘Miracle of Madagascar’, Madagascar defeats world No. 8 France in 3×3 World Cup

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• on Jun 02, 2023

This is why sports are fun. A miraculous victory that no one expected came from Vienna, Austria. 

The FIBA ​​3×3 World Cup 2023, which opened in Vienna, Austria on May 30, is in full swing with the final qualifying schedule for each team ahead of advancing to the final tournament. A total of 40 teams, 20 for men and women, participated in this tournament, where 5 teams were organized into 1 group and held preliminary rounds. 

Surprising news was delivered on the evening of the 1st, Korean time, amid the strength of Europe. It is said that Madagascar, an island nation located in southeastern Africa, has sunk the world’s eighth-ranked France. 

Among the participating countries in this 3×3 World Cup, Madagascar stood out by far. Madagascar, which entered the 3×3 World Cup stage for the first time this year, is the weakest among the participating teams in the 3×3 World Cup, ranking 68th (men) and 56th (women) in the FIBA ​​3×3 national rankings. 

Madagascar was a country that was hard to find on the international stage, at least on the 3×3 stage. However, in this 3×3 World Cup, he became the main character of the greatest change ever. 

Madagascar’s women’s 3×3 team, which participated in the FIBA ​​3×3 World Cup 2023 qualifiers held in Israel last May, failed to secure a ticket to the World Cup, and only the men’s 3×3 team participated in this 3×3 World Cup. 

Madagascar, which was placed in Group A with prominent countries such as Serbia, Brazil, France, and Germany, suffered three consecutive losses to Serbia, Germany, and Brazil, realizing the world’s high wall.

Madagascar faced France in their final match of the 3×3 World Cup. France, ranked 8th in the world, had to catch the weak Madagascar unconditionally. Before the match against Madagascar, France was on the brink of elimination with 1 win and 2 losses, so after winning the match against Madagascar unconditionally, they had to watch the results of other teams. 

The match was a one-sided pace for France from the beginning. 

France, who took a 5-2 lead with Alex Vialaret’s two consecutive goals, widened the score to 8-2 with Frank Seguela’s three consecutive field shots. It was as expected. France, ranked 8th in the world, seemed to win 21 points early against Madagascar, the weakest player in the tournament. 

France led 11-4 by the middle of the game. However, from the middle of the game, an amazing sight unfolded. Madagascar’s Livio Ratianarivo started pouring unbelievable outer shells. 

From the middle of the game, when the team was trailing 4-11, Livio Ratianarivo started pouring in 2-pointers from the perimeter and poured in 3 2-pointers to press France to 11-12 at once. 

France ran away 4 minutes before the end of the game, but Madagascar pulled the reins of the chase with Livio Ratianarivo even scoring a lucky 2-point shot. Feeling the crisis, France immediately responded with a two-pointer, but Livio Ratianarivo once again hit a two-pointer, and the score difference between the two teams remained one point. 

Madagascar was trailing 15-16 3 minutes before the end of the game, Alpha Solondraeney hit a lucky 2-point shot and Madagascar took the lead for the first time since the start of the game, and the game between the two teams was unpredictable. 

France, which had to avoid defeat at all costs, was on the verge of winning 20-19 with Vincent Faucher’s two points in the second half of the game. However, 50 seconds before the end of the game, Madagascar’s hero of the day, Livio Ratianarivo, hit his 6th 2-point shot, completing a miraculous comeback and giving France their 3rd loss of the tournament. 

After an exciting 21-20 come-from-behind victory against France, Madagascar recorded 1 win and 3 losses in the qualifying round, and ended this 3×3 World Cup in 4th place in the group due to a 3-point lead over France. France, who suffered a shocking come-from-behind defeat due to Madagascar’s momentum despite a large lead at the beginning of the game, was on the verge of being eliminated from the preliminaries, but advanced to the final tournament with a high score ahead of Madagascar. 

Madagascar’s Livio Ratianarivo,메이저사이트 who boasted a shooting sense comparable to Stephen Curry’s at least in the game against France, did not succeed in a single 1-point shot against France, but scored 12 points with 6 2-pointers, Madagascar’s historic FIBA ​​3×3 He became the main character of his first victory in the World Cup.