ZM NITUI were crowned Phygital Basketball champions at Phygital Contenders Astana 2026, capping an unbeaten run with a dramatic Super Final victory over MINSK at the Alau Ice Palace on Saturday (13 June).
The two sides produced one of the standout contests of the event. ZM NITUI edged a tense digital stage 19-18 before taking full control in the physical phase, ultimately sealing a commanding 38-27 overall win to lift the trophy.
Jan Kroflin of ZM NITUI said: “It feels excellent to have won at Phygital Contenders Astana 2026. We’re extremely happy to have played five games, won five games, and qualified for the Games of the Future 2026. Now we’ll keep doing what we do and continue improving both our physical and digital game.”
Both ZM NITUI and MINSK progress directly to Phygital Basketball event at GOTF 2026, which will take place at the Athletics Sports Complex “Qazaqstan”. GOTF 2026 runs from 29 July-3 August.
Earlier in the day, four other teams had to battle hard for the last two spots available. Valencia Basket edged out Vozdovac 28-21, in a match that saw momentum swing wildly between both sides. Then Triada proved to be dominant against ARENA BULLS to win 36-27 in their match.
So after four days of competition, the four clubs from Phygital Contenders Astana 2026 – Basketball that secured qualification for the Games of the Future 2026 are:
- ZM NITUI (Croatian eSports Federation)
- MINSK (Belarusian Federation of Phygital Sports)
- Triada (ADCS)
- Valencia Basket (Phygital Games Spain)
The newly qualified clubs will join Team Apex, Dangerous, Pepesqueros A and PBC Astana in the Phygital Basketball discipline for the tournament.
Two further teams will join them via the WPC ranking allocation system and will be announced at a later date.
Full match replays from all the disciplines at Phygital Contenders Astana 2026 are available to watch on Phygital+.
