The Dutch youth basketball team WBB Giants from Bergen op Zoom won the Beijing International Youth Basketball tournament (BIYB) held on Sunday June 5 at the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB).

In total, 8 teams from international schools and basketball clubs in Beijing competed in this annual tournament for basketball talents.

The Dutch team, consisting of 12 very talented players under 16 years old, beat the team of Beijing Falcons Basketball Club in the finals winning the cup as the first foreign team. Dutch player Bas Leyte won the award of Most Valuable Player (MVP) in his age category with his impressive performance.

The Dutch youngsters also played friendly matches against Tsinghua University High School and other high schools in Beijing and agreed to receive the Tsinghua team in the Netherlands for basketball matches and training clinics in the future. During a visit to the Netherlands embassy on Friday June 3, they also learned more about the Netherlands embassy and Sino-Dutch exchanges from Ambassador Mr. Ron Keller and Education Counsellor Mr. David Pho.

The Dutch dream team was supported by an enthusiastic and professional team of coaches, technical staff and parents and received sponsoring from the Dutch aerospace company Fokker Technologies.