Corinthians playmaker celebrates NBB Skills Challenge win | OneFootball

Last Saturday, Corinthians point guard Tico Faria shined in the 2026 NBB CAIXA All-Star Game by winning the Skills Challenge title. In the final, the black-and-white player got the better of Lucas Naka and secured the trophy.

The competition featured a technical course that required speed, ball handling, layup finishing, and shooting efficiency. The format consisted of knockout matchups, starting in the semifinals and advancing to the grand final among the four participants.

Photo: Marcos Limonti / Relance

In this edition, besides Tico and Naka, Ale Vernizzi of Vasco and Henrique Coelho of Unifacisa also took part. The Corinthians guard entered as a replacement for Zu Jr. of Sesi Franca, who was sidelined with an injury.

“The thing I practiced the most in the morning training session was the pass. I was very confident, and I had seen the other athletes making their passes too, and I saw they were missing. In the semifinal, I made the perfect pass, went for it, took the lead, and then in the final, I got a little nervous. I’m not going to lie to you”, Tico began, speaking to the NBB’s official website.

In the semifinal round, the Corinthians player beat Henrique Coelho, while Lucas Naka advanced after defeating Ale Vernizzi. In the final, in a balanced matchup decided by the small details, Tico was more accurate and faster, securing the win over the Pato Basquete player and pocketing the R$ 7,000 prize.

After the title, the guard again commented on his performance and highlighted his perseverance during the challenge. “I missed the passes, but I didn’t give up. I went, spun around, saw that Naka had missed, got there really fast, and he even got his shot off at the same time as me, but my ball went in. The prize money helps a lot, it’s 7,000 reais, but this feeling of what today was and having won, I think that counts much more than the prize money”, he added.

Even with limited minutes on the court recently, the player also explained his strong free-throw performance. In the last five games in which he had an opportunity, he maintained a perfect percentage, making 100% of his attempts.

Corinthians’ next game in the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) will be next Thursday, April 2, against Rio Claro Basquete at 8 p.m., at Ginásio Felipe Karan, in the 33rd round of the national competition.

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.