After Savoy, Isère. Having ped through Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne a few days earlier, the French 3×3 basketball teams returned to their usual stronghold of Voiron before flying off to the World Cup (May 30-June 4), where the Blues will be inevitably awaited, with their world title for women and their bronze medal for men acquired during the 2022 edition.
On the Tremplin Sport Formation site, at the foot of the climbing walls, nine nations compete this Friday and Saturday during the “Big Twelve”. A high-stakes preparation tournament for Les Bleues, only complete for two days and the arrival of Myriam Djekoundade, finalist of the French Championship with the ESBVA and 3×3 world champion in 2022. The composition of the quartet who will defend their crown will be announced on Saturday evening, at the end of the tournament.
“Yes, it is partly played here on this tournament, points out Yann Julien, coach of the Bleues, who solidly won their four matches of the day. My brain is boiling because I ask myself a thousand questions. We have very experienced players, who have accumulated titles and certainly have a bit of a lead, but nothing is set in stone. We also have to deal with the context because it’s not easy to be mentally and physically fit when we’re so stuck in the Women’s League season. These are ongoing discussions with the staff. »
“We know that there are several competitive teams possible, because we have a dense pool of players, everyone can claim a place and that’s very good, we are not resting on our laurels, ures Laetitia Guapo, 4th in the Tokyo Olympics and world champion last year. We feel that there is competition between us, but super positive, we push each other and we pull each other up. »
On the men’s side, the atmosphere is a little more relaxed. The selection for Vienna has already been revealedwith four members of the 3×3 Paris professional team, used to playing together (some other players are still caught up in their respective championships and their 5×5 clubs, like Antoine Eito with Chalon, who came to greet his teammates in Voiron this Friday).
“We continue to dig into the details, to get checks (game systems) in addition, details Franck Séguéla, bronze medalist at the 2022 World Cup, who will be accompanied on the Austrian meeting by Alex Vialaret, Jules Rambaut and Vincent Fauché. This tournament also allows us to measure our level of intensity in matches, to manage the efforts over a day of competition with several matches. “We try to put ourselves in the same mental and physical conditions as the World Cup because we have teams which, physically, are similar to our first competitors”, completes Vialaret.
The Blues will fly to Vienna this Sunday, while the World Cup, the first major international competition of a busy summer, will begin next Tuesday (30 May – 4 June).