Despite failing to qualify for the elimination round in 3×3 basketball at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey, National 3×3 Coordinator, Junior Hercules, affirmed that the team gave a credible performance in the competition.
This was disclosed during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport. According to Hercules, “While we failed to achieve the intended objective, we were able to make a solid representation in the tournament with 18 countries.”
Guyana failed to qualify for the elimination round out of Group-B. The Guyanese ended the tournament with a record of two wins and two losses. Guyana defeated Mauritania (18-17) and Maldives (22-12). However, they suffered losses to Uganda (15-18), and Iran (12-21).
Hercules noted that while the team was competitive for large periods of the respective matches, the individual approach which at intervals was adopted by the players, didn’t serve the team well, and was not conducive or helpful in securing victories against superior opposition.
He explained, “While Guyana was able to split their games it was not enough to allow us to advance to the medal rounds. The game against Iran was the ultimate test for us. In my opinion, we competed for the first period of the game. The game got away from us within the last six minutes. We also played a lot of individual basketball. Playing that style against a quality opponent like Iran is a formula for failure. Guyana nevertheless was able to bounce back with an all-around best team performance against the Maldives in our final game. Overall we placed 9th in the tournament with a total of 18 countries.”
