On December 28-30, the 15th anniversary international children’s basketball tournament “Christmas Cup 2024” took place at sports facilities in Kaunas city and Kaunas district, competing for the Kaunas district mayor’s cup.
This year, 22 teams from six European countries participated in the tournament. Nearly 330 children competed across three age groups. In the 2012 and 2010 age categories, Lithuanian teams defended their home turf and secured gold medals, while in the youngest category, the Latvians from Marupes NSS dethroned the Lithuanians. Tornado teams did not manage to claim first places but proudly took home two silver and one bronze medal.
Eight teams from Poland, Estonia, Slovenia, and Lithuania competed in the oldest age category. The first-place winners were the basketball players from Šiauliai KA “Saulė.” Despite losing to Tornado KM in the group stage, they took their revenge in the final and celebrated the championship title. Tornado KM – “Fudo” had to settle for second place, while bronze medals went to the team from the seaside, V. Knašius KM, who defeated Krvavec (SVN) in the third-place match.
In the three-point shooting contest, the most accurate shooters were P. Zavackas (V. Knašius KM) and V. Ljubljavšek (Krvavec), finishing first and second, respectively.
The tournament’s symbolic five included L. Andriulis (Šiauliai KA “Saulė”), A. Maldutis (Tornado KM), L. Dargužis (V. Knašius KM), T. Kogovšek (Krvavec), and K. Juočepį (KM “Perkūnas”).
In the U13 age group, the Vilnius Basketball School team emerged victorious. Among eight teams from Poland, Latvia, Germany, and Lithuania, they remained undefeated and rightfully earned the gold medals. In the grand final, the Polish team AM Dzikow fell short by just four points. AM Dziki has participated in Tornado KM tournaments multiple times and consistently demonstrates a high level of basketball. The bronze match saw Tornado KM face Hessen Juniors (GER). After a tough battle, Tornado KM won by a single point.
The three-point shooting contest was won by Mantas Norvaišas (Vilnius KM), while E. Kimeris (Marupes NSS) took second place.
The symbolic five featured B. Limantas (Vilnius KM), L. Romanow (AM Dzikow), J. Bruneckas (Tornado KM – “Literna”), N. Rosswint (Hessen Juniors), and A. Dumarans (Marupes NSS).
In the youngest 2014-born boys’ age group, six teams from Latvia, Poland, Slovenia, and Lithuania competed in a round-robin system. Remaining undefeated and confidently surpassing all opponents, the Marupes NSS team claimed the championship title. Tornado KM players secured silver medals, losing only to the champions, while the Vilnius-based Sostinės KM team took bronze.
Tornado KM sharpshooters dominated the three-point contest, with M. Vaitiekūnas winning and J. Juočiūnas taking second place.
The symbolic five included G. Grauds (Marupes NSS), P. Stankevičius (Tornado KM), M. Ralys (Sostinės KM), A. Všeničnik (Krvavec), and N. Kaczmarek (AK Komorow).
“We are delighted that we successfully organized the international children’s basketball tournament ‘Christmas Cup 2024’ for the 15th time,” said “Tornado” KM director Dainius Čiuprinskas. “This year, nearly 330 young basketball players from six European countries participated, proving that this initiative is both necessary and meaningful. We sincerely thank the Kaunas district municipality for providing the spacious and well-equipped Ringaudai Primary School sports facility, the parents of our students for their invaluable assistance in organizing the tournament, the children who helped by filming games and maintaining the venues, and the entire ‘Tornado’ team for their tireless efforts in ensuring the event ran smoothly. We wish that 2024 will be a year full of victories, growth, and accomplished goals, both on and off the court.”
Article translated with AI