FIBA Basketball

    Serbia take down Turkey, Russia fail on a famous night for Bosnia and Herzegovina

    MUNICH (Germany) - There were some big casualties as the curtain was raised for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers, with two European powerhouses Russia and Turkey taking a tumble.

    MUNICH (Germany) - There were some big casualties as the curtain was raised for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers, with two European powerhouses Russia and Turkey taking a tumble.

    In a defensively dominated contest in the Serbian capital Belgrade, the bronze medalists of the 2019 edition took down Turkey 59-56 to begin their Group E campaign on a high note. It was Sopron Basket ace Aleksandra Crvendakic who proved the difference-maker in a tight game as she came up with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 steals.

    While Serbia were without the influential Sonja Petrovic, Turkey were without their own leader in Isil Alben, who was also out injured. After the game, forward Tilbe Senyurek was adamant that Turkey will bounce back from the setback and recover.

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    She said: "We are very young team and they had a lot of experienced players. Actually, my opinion is that we deserved to win the game, as we fought really hard.

    "We gave them a lot of offensive rebounds. That was the first mistake, and the second was that we had a lot of turnovers. We will probably play better on our home court and in games that will come."

    Serbia coach Marina Maljkovic was relieved Serbia had dodged a defeat and commented: "It was not a pretty game from our side, but on the other hand it was an exciting game. It was a tough contest and not so pretty to watch as we didn't play in our recognizable way - with a lot of fast breaks and with a tough defense."

    Bosnia and Herzegovina won't be forgetting their absorbing and nail-biting 70-69 success over Russia in the opening fixture of the qualifying campaign. Having only just fallen short in their pursuit of a Final Round place in the previous Qualifiers, this victory gives them a major boost and was founded on an amazing debut from the naturalized WNBA star, Jonquel Jones.

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    She claimed a mammoth double-double of 29 points and 16 rebounds on what proved to be an agonizing night for Russia coach Alexander Kovalev as he lost his first game at the helm in his hometown of Orenburg.

    Netherlands, Croatia and Czech Republic all enjoyed their first outing in the window with some seriously eye-catching results. Netherlands registered their most impressive result in recent memory as Hungary were left reeling by a 66-56 victory for the Orange Angels. Emese Hof led the way as she plundered 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

     
    Croatia claimed a fine 83-65 triumph in Latvia as Ivana Dojkic continued her red-hot club form with KSC Szekszard by contributing 27 points and 8 assists.

    Italy had turned back to Andrea Capobianco after dispensing with the services of Marco Crespi recently, but it was a tough night for the playcaller. The Italians were beaten 62-52 at home by Czech Republic who were rejuvenated with their twin towers of Kia Vaughn and Julia Reisingerova back on board having both missed Final Round in the summer.

    As for Crespi, he took the reins of Sweden last month and he got off to a winning start as his side coasted past Israel 77-40, with the Swedes outrebounding the Israeli hosts 52-29.

    Meanwhile in Lithuania, Juste Jocyte took here much anticipated step to the senior ranks at the tender age of just 13-years-old. She got to score her first bucket as the home side hammered Albania 108-43.


    Belgium faced a tricky test against Ukraine, but the Belgian Cats came through with flying colors to win 83-66 behind the usual entertainment from Marjorie Carpreaux and also 22 points and 6 rebounds from Emma Meesseman.

    Great Britain continued their momentum having made history this past summer with a first ever Semi-Final spot. Eilidh Simpson stepped up with 18 points to guide them to a precious 75-63 road win in Poland.

    Slovenia needed Teja Oblak to find a high gear as the ZVVZ USK Praha guard posted 19 points and 6 assists to help see off Greece 70-64 in a hard fought victory. 

    Elsewhere, there were wins for Germany, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Portugal.

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