By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
With one more Gameday remaining in the FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers, nine national teams – Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Turkey – secured their tickets to China and only three more are left for grabs. And the owners will be decided in three direct duels.
Russia (7-4) and Finland (6-5) will open the show with the first game on Sunday (24/2, 14:00 CET) and the hosts are in a slightly better position in Group K. A win would solve it all but they can also afford to lose, however, with no more than two points. That means Finland, on the other hand, must win by at least three points in order to qualify. Russia got the advantage with a 77-75 win after overtime in Finland.
Two hours later (24/2, 16:00 CET), Serbia (6-5) and Israel (5-6) will step on the court as they fight for the last ticket in Group L. The game between Georgia (5-6) and Estonia (3-8), which is played at the same time, can also influence the final outcome here. Israel won the first game 83-74 but the scenarios are the following:
- Serbia will qualify if they win or they lose by no more than 21 points and Georgia beats Estonia
- Israel qualifies if they beat Serbia by at least 22 points or they win and Estonia beats Georgia
The last WC ticket owner will be decided in Group I between Montenegro (7-4) and Latvia (6-5) on Monday (25/2, 19:00 CET). Montenegro won the first game in Latvia 84-75 which allows them to lose the next one with no more than eight points. However, if Latvia manages to win by nine or more points, they will be the ones traveling to China for the World Cup.