By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
The second round of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers “windows” kicked off Thursday, with Greece and Germany grabbing big wins against Serbia and Estonia respectively.
Six duels are scheduled for Friday’s European qualifiers. Let’s take a look below!
Ukraine – Spain (19:00 GMT+3)
Spain holds the top spot of Group I with a perfect record from the first round of the qualifiers, while Ukraine counts even wins and losses. For sure, this duel has a favorite, though Ukraine is an opponent that could surprise, especially in the presence of Alex Len and Svi Mykhailiuk.
Latvia – Slovenia (19:30 GMT+3)
Latvia finished the first round on a high note, marking four wins. Things didn’t turn out this way for Slovenia though, as the 2017 EuroBasket champions managed only two wins and currently rank last in Group I.
Slovenia will miss its stars Luka Doncic and Goran Dragic, while Latvia will lack Kristaps Porzingis. However, this will be a fun duel to watch on Friday evening.
Turkey – Montenegro (20:00 GMT+3)
Turkey has the same record as Latvia from the first round and will face balanced Montenegro for a chance to clear things up in Group I.
The hosts will be reinforced with the presence of Cedi Osman, Ersan Ilyasova and Furkan Korkmaz.
Netherlands – Hungary (20:00 GMT+2)
This duel of Group J is definitely going to be intense! Both teams are victory hungry, after finishing the first round with a 3-3 record.
The winner, combined with a loss of Poland, could make it to the Top 3 of the group and stay on the qualification race at least for now.
Croatia – Lithuania (20:15 GMT+2)
Another classic European duel is set to happen this evening. Croatia wants to be the team to give Lithuania its first blow in the Qualifiers, though this job won’t be too easy.
With Bojan Bogdanovic and Dario Saric onboard, the Croatian squad will try to match up competitive Lithuania that finished first in the opening round.
Italy – Poland (20:15 GMT+2)
Another interesting match-up on Group J. Italy ranks second in the Group, Poland is third and has an equal record with the rest of the teams except for Lithuania.
It would be safe to say that Italy wants to get the job done and secure its place in the qualifying zone.