Coming to Debrecen’s Kossuth Square on Wednesday, August 26th, the 3 × 3 basketball tournament series begins. For the first time, an international tournament called the “Youth Festival” will be held here, for which the group schedule and the final schedule will be completed.
According to prior plans, the U18 World Championships would have been held in Debrecen in the last days of August, but due to the coronavirus, several countries could not take part. As the majority of the teams indicated their intention to start, the five-day tournament would not be missed, but the International Basketball Federation decided to change its name to reflect its new structure.
The event, dubbed Youth Festival 2020, would have featured 8-8 boys and girls teams in the original competition calendar, but since the German team canceled at the last minute, only 7 bands of each sex will compete. In addition to Israel, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Estonia, Hungary will also start with two national teams, while DEAC basketball players will complete the field as Team Debrecen. Due to the difficulties, the boys had to expand the U18 age group, in addition to Israel, Slovenia and Hungary, the Hungarian national team U23, the Serbian U20, and U23 national teams will start, and the DEAC Basketball Academy will also launch a team.
The bands play each other in a round-robin system over four days, followed by the placeholders on Saturday and Sunday. The program prepared by FIBA may still change with the elimination of the Germans, but according to the current position, the ladies ’final will be held on Sunday from 8:40 p.m., while the boys will be held from 9 p.m.
Youth Festival 2020 Debrecen Wednesday program:
13:30 Throwing competition qualification
13:45 Hungary “A” – Hungary “B” (women)
14:10 Slovenia – Czech Republic (women)
14:35 Hungary – Israel (men)
15:00 Debrecen – Slovenia (men)
15: 35 Debrecen – Estonia (women)
16:00 Israel – Hungary “A” (women)
16:25 Serbia U23 – Hungary U23 (men)
16:50 Hungary – Serbia U20 (men)
17:25 Hungary “B” – Slovenia ( women)
17:50 Czech Republic – Debrecen (women)
18:15 Israel – Debrecen (male)
18:40 Slovenia – Serbia U23 (men)
19:15 Estonia – Israel (women)
19:40 Hungary U23 – Serbia U20 (men)
Organizers are paying close attention to compliance with current health rules. All athletes must arrive with two negative coronavirus tests or be tested on-site upon arrival. Disinfection points will be set up on the stands and mouth masks will also be distributed to athletes and crew members.
The organizers ask the people of Debrecen not to come out to the event, and rather to follow the matches online.
The 3 × 3 basketball festival starts on August 26th and runs until September 5th. Admission to the event will be free again.
