The 2024 “Cyprus 3×3” basketball series of events will culminate over the weekend of August 31-September 1, 2024, with the matches of the Pancyprian finals at the courts set up at Molos in Limassol.
There will be a charity exhibition match with the participation of top Cypriot athletes, as well as the organisation of a sports seminar at TEPAK’s “Tasos Papadopoulos” Amphitheatre, featuring former Greek international basketball player Dimitrios Papanikolaou as main speaker.
More specifically, the seminar will take place in Limassol, between 10.30am and 1.30pm on Saturday, August 31, 2024 at TEPAK’s Amphitheatre, within the framework of the OPAP Cyprus 3×3 tournament.
In Part A of the seminar, Papanikolaou will give a keynote entitled “The power of extroversion”, regarding raising social awareness about autism, as well self-improvement, competition and teamwork. He will also speak about the sports-education programme “UniquAll”, which aims to empower neurodiverse children and which he, himself, inspired and implemented.
Dimitris Papanikolaou is a former basketball player of Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK, Paneonios, Peristeri, Makedonikos, two-time European champion at club level, seven-time Greek champion, world champion with the Greek national junior team and two Olympic Games with the Greek national team.
In Part B of the seminar, a panel discussion will take place regarding accessibility and inclusion in urban areas of the 5×5 and 3×3 basketball competitions. The panel will be addressed by Mayor of Limassol Yiannis Armeftis, President of the Cyprus Basketball Federation, Andreas Mouzourides, inspector Themis Apostolidis on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Olympian and member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Sports Organisation Stavros Michaelides, Dimitrios Papanikolaou, and Co-Founder & CEO at Cyprus 3on3 LTD Evripides Manoullos. The panel will be moderated by the President of the Cyprus Sports Writers Association (CSA) Erodotos Miltiadous.
The seminar will close with Part C and the presentation of Papanikolaou’s book “11:11 | All unique, All equal”.
The above event, as well as the OPAP Cyprus 3×3 Finals, are supported by OPAP Cyprus, Primetel, Scaffolding Solutions, Hellenic Bank, Alinea Suites Limassol, TEPAK and the Cyprus Basketball Federation.
Court-side programme:
On Friday, August 30 until Sunday, September 1 the basketball action will continue at the Limassol Molos, with the OPAP Limassol 3×3 and the Scaffolding Solutions U12, Under 14, OPAP Women categories.
Taking place in parallel: the OPAP Cyprus 3×3 Finals, featuring the top teams of 2024, which qualified via the OPAP Nicosia 3×3, Paphos 3×3, Ayia Napa 3×3, Platres 3×3, Larnaca 3×3 and Limassol 3×3 tournaments.
Sunday’s finals will be broadcast live via the Cyprus 3×3 channel on Youtube.
Sports legends to face off
In the context of the Sunday, September 1 games and the charity action of Cyprus 3×3, a very interesting competition with the participation of sports legends will take place at 7.30pm at Limassol’s Molos. The match will be dedicated to the “Little Heroes”, the charity organisation initiated by MEP Loukas Fourlas.
The rivals will be, on the one hand, “Team Ioannou”, coached by Mayor Armeftis, captained by four-time Olympian Kyriakos Ioannou and teamed by 2008 Olympic gold medalist Nataliya Dobrynska from Ukraine and three-time Olympian Stavros Michaelides.
Opposing them will be Team Trajkovic, coached by MEP Fourlas, captained by three-time Olympian Milan Trajkovic, with teammates three-time Olympian Apostolos Parellis, Survivor Greece participant Melina Metaxa and journalist Louis Nicolaou.
Big thanks go to sponsors of the Cyprus 3×3 events: our Diamond sponsor OPAP Cyprus, and Platinum sponsor Primetel, through which there will be live streaming of all final matches of the tournament. Other sponsors include Scaffolding Solutions, Prime Insurance, Herbalife, MyMall Limassol, SoEasy Stores, So.Loo.tions and Cosmos Sport. Supporters are Search the Nest.
Entrance to the TEPAK Amphitheatre seminar, and Molos basketball courts, is free of charge.
