Austrian women exit Vienna 3x3 tournament in group stage after late collapse against Canada

Speaking to ORF after the loss, Allesch acknowledged that the result slipped through the team's hands. "Es ist schade. Wir haben das Spiel in unserer Hand gehabt," she said, reflecting on the squandered advantage. Her teammate Sill was equally candid about the emotional swings that define the short format. "Die Höhen und Tiefen sind in den zehn Minuten sehr exzessiv. Es tut wirklich weh, das noch hergegeben zu haben," Sill noted, adding that she and her colleagues are now hoping for a successful European Championship qualification campaign to soften the disappointment.

Tournament stakes and Olympic pathway

The tournament carries added significance beyond prestige. As with other stops on the international 3x3 calendar, results feed into the Olympic qualification pathway, raising the stakes for every group-stage appearance. For Austria, the home setting was meant to provide a platform to climb the standings. The Heumarkt venue, with capacity for up to 3,000 spectators, was configured to give the local team an atmosphere reminiscent of a knockout round. Instead, the group-stage exit echoed the previous year's campaign, when the Austrian women were also eliminated before the quarterfinals.

The broader event still continues in Vienna. The women's competition began on Friday, while the men's competition tips off a day later on Saturday. In addition to the senior categories, the U23 national teams of both men and women and the Austrian wheelchair basketball team are also competing at the Heumarkt, giving the tournament a wider national-team showcase. Both Austrian women's matches, along with the rest of the program, are being broadcast live on ORF Sport+, with streaming options also available.

Men's side: Team Vienna faces Liman and Red Star Belgrade

Attention now turns to the European Championship qualification path, where Sill and her teammates will look to translate the lessons of the Vienna stage into tangible results. The format of 3x3, with its compressed ten-minute games, leaves little margin for the kinds of late collapses Austria suffered against Canada, and the team will need to address the defensive drop-off that turned a 12:8 advantage into a one-sided defeat.

Outside the women's bracket, the men's side of the draw has generated its own headlines. Team Vienna faces a demanding Saturday program, meeting Liman, a former World Tour champion, at 15:50 local time before taking on Roter Stern Belgrad at 22:25. As with the women's event, the top two teams in each three-team group advance to the quarterfinals. Both of Team Vienna's Saturday matches will be broadcast live on ORF Sport+ and via livestream.

Voices from the home camp

Ahead of those fixtures, players and staff struck a confident tone at Thursday's press conference. Diggs and Stojacic spoke to reporters, with Stojacic expressing belief in the home side's chances. "Vienna spielt, um zu gewinnen. Wir haben große Ziele und eine echte Chance. Ich würde auf uns wetten," he said. Diggs added that the team wants revenge for a 2025 quarterfinal elimination by Amsterdam that ended on a contested late call. "Wir wollen Revanche," he noted.

Toni Blazan, speaking about the women's program, pointed to the team's recent World Championship showing as evidence that Austria can compete with the sport's leading nations. "Wir haben bei der WM gezeigt, dass wir wieder ganz oben mitspielen können. Wir hätten uns eine Medaille verdient gehabt," he said, framing the Vienna stop as part of a longer-term rebuild.

Fuchs-Robetin, for her part, framed the home tournament as an opportunity the team is determined to grasp. "Die Auslosung ist nicht einfach, aber mit dem Heimpublikum im Rücken können wir viel schaffen," she said, adding, "Wir haben mit dem Turnier noch eine Rechnung offen." Sill echoed the sentiment of belief that has defined the squad's messaging around the event: "Ich traue uns den Turniersieg zu. Wenn wir die Gruppe überstehen, dann ist alles möglich."

ÖBV General Secretary Aldin Saracevic underscored the wider stakes for Austrian basketball. "Der Bewerb ist für uns sehr wichtig, weil der Basketballsport dadurch viel mehr Sichtbarkeit bekommt," he said, framing the tournament as a visibility boost for the sport regardless of the women's early exit. The federation will now look to channel that exposure into momentum for the European Championship qualifiers and the remainder of the Vienna program.