Wlad El Bahr winning team of Red Bull Reign Kuwait.

KUWAIT: The maiden Red Bull Reign 3-on-3 basketball tournament in Kuwait utterly pushed participating teams to their sheer physical and mental limits, mostly during the final game between Wlad El Bahr who overcame a tough battle against Los Andalus, by outscoring them 5-4.

The winning team played with harmony and skill all day long until they scored the final bucket and grasped the trophy and the boarding pass to Washington, where the Red Bull Reign’s World Final will take place. Friday was not just a normal day for all the participants who amassed at Marina World’s Basketball courts after enduring a series of tough qualifying games on the previous day - it was the final 3-on-3 round out of which one team would qualify to the World Final. The local final witnessed surprising showers right before the games were scheduled to start. The teams lined up at the entrance waiting for the sky to clear with eagerness to compete and defeat one another.

Sooner than expected, the rain stopped and the first whistle announced the beginning of 75 hard games of fouls, missed buckets, dunks and unexpected cold wind. “We did not expect to win this great championship, but we did expect to advance towards the semifinals at least,” said Kareem Jaber, Wlad El Bahr team member. He continued: “The toughest game we played was the final; it was physically and mentally draining but absolutely worth it. We would like to tell the teams qualifying from other countries to watch out!” Wlad El Bahr’s Kareem Jaber, Ahmad Yassin, Essam Abdulsatar and Abdullah Khedr will compete in the World Final held in September at the Goodman League in Washignton, DC.