MIES (Switzerland) - International basketball is celebrating a successful November window of Continental Cups Qualifiers as national teams traded blows before tens of thousands of spectators around the world.
Stakes were high as teams attempted to book their places in, or improve their chances of making it to, next summer's FIBA AmeriCup, FIBA Asia Cup, FIBA EuroBasket or FIBA AfroBasket.
The sport's growth in areas where national teams have not been among the heavyweights was evident, like in Nicaragua, the site of next year's FIBA AmeriCup Final Round. An eye-popping crowd of 8,438 was in the Alexis Arguello arena to see the Nicaraguans take on the Dominican Republic. The venue is supposed to have an 8,000 capacity so organizers were able to find extra room to accommodate the extra 438 spectators.
At the same location in this window just days before, 7,301 fans saw Nicaragua go up against Mexico.
A combined audience of more than 10,000 fans watched Brazil's wins over Uruguay and Panama at the Arena Guilherme Paraense, and there was a capacity crowd on hand for Canada's home game against Mexico at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with nearly 4,000 spectators.
National team attendance records for India and Thailand
What a window it was in Asia and particularly in India! Fans packed the stands at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai to see India face Qatar and Kazakhstan. The first game set a record attendance for the national team in the country with 7,000 fans. More than 13,000 combined cheered wildly and were rewarded as India defeated the latter for the first time, and did so convincingly, 88-69.
Also in Asia, a whopping 5,135 fans nearly filled the Nimibutr Stadium in Bankok to root for Thailand against Australia. Once again, this was the biggest attendance ever for the basketball national team in the country. The Boomers rolled to a big win with Chris Goulding burying 9 3-pointers, yet Thai fans saw some bright play from their team, which boasts star Freddie Lish and also now has German Budnesliga star Martin Breunig, whose mother is from the country.
Many Thai fans watched their country's next game from a far, a Thailand victory in Jakarta over Indonesia on Sunday with 5,000 spectators.
The Mall of Asia continued to be one of the great theaters of international basketball, with an 11,686 attendance for the Philippines' first ever win over New Zealand and then 11,896 for the victory over Hong Kong, China. This set a new record for the country in an Asia Cup Qualifiers.
A near capacity crowd of 5,295 filled up the Nikkan Arena Tochigi to see Japan beat Mongolia.
More than 10,000 fans in Slovakia
In the FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers, the TIPOS Arena in Bratislava was full with a capacity crowd of 10,046 on hand to watch a double overtime thriller between Slovakia and Spain. The latter edged the contest, 76-72, yet Slovakian basketball was a big winner since this marked the largest crowd of the continent.
Not far behind was the jam-packed Hovet arena in Stockholm, where Sweden came from behind to stun Germany, 73-72. The 8,906 crowd meant the venue was full. The Swedes also witnessed a record scoring night in the EuroBasket Qualifiers with Germany's David Kramer pouring in 43 points.
Fans were eager to help Greece bounce back from their defeat at Great Britain in the first meeting between the teams in London, with 8,200 filling the PAOK Sports Arena in Thessaloniki to capacity. The Greeks rode the home-court advantage to a 77-67 triumph.
There were also capacity crowds at games in Tallinn (Estonia), Wloclawek (Poland) and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), while numerous other venues had thousands in attendance.
FIBA