The Puerto Rican side faced the runners-up of the last two editions of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour back-to-back, with Saskatoon and Kranj their opening opponents.

The 12th seeded team earned a 21-13 victory over Saskatoon, with Luis Hernandez scoring 10 points in the triumph.

Progression to the knock-out stage of the tournament was then assured when Caguas overcame Slovenia’s Kranj by a score of 21-20.

Caguas will now face the challenge of Belgrade in the quarter-finals, after the Serbian team finished second in Pool A in a tournament taking place at the International Tennis Arena in Zayed Sports City. 

A 10-8 win over St Petersburg was enough for Belgrade to progress as runners-up behind reigning champions Novi Sad Al Wahda, whom they had lost to 17-14 earlier in the day.

Novi Sad Al Wahda won both their matches, as they also secured a 16-10 win over St Petersburg.

They are now due to face Kranj in the quarter-finals.

Second seeds Ljubljana topped Pool B, with the Slovenian side earning a 20-16 win over Chicago and a 19-18 victory over Brazil’s São Paulo DC.

American champions Chicago secured the second spot in the pool, after they eased past Sao Paulo 21-14.

Hamamatsu topped the Pool C standings after they earned a narrow 19-18 win over Piran in their opening match, before overcoming Gdansk 21-12.

A 21-13 win over Gdnask would prove enough to take them through to the knock-out stage.

Hamamatsu will now meet Chicago and Piran take on Ljubljana.