Five exciting young stars in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers

MUNICH (Germany) -  Even if they might not make the Final Round in France and Spain next year, several aspiring young ballers have been using the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers to get themselves onto the radar.

Here's a selection of rising stars who all started their journey's playing at FIBA youth events and have now started to make their mark for their respective senior teams - and could be about to have an even bigger influence in years to come.

Eleni Bosgana - Greece

At just 13-years old, Bosgana debuted for her country at the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2017,  Division B. The forward moved onto the radar even more when a year later when taking a silver medal and catapulting her country to Division A. She averaged more than 15 points per game and earned All-Star Five status. She was was called up to attend the prestigious Basketball Without Borders camp in Riga last year, prior to a  third successive FIBA U16 Women's European Championship, when she led her team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and efficiency. 

It was a week to remember for Bosgana last November, when still aged just 15-years-old, she debuted in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers against Slovenia. Typically, she made an instant impact with a perfect 3-of-3 shooting performance, then netted 12 points in just 17 minutes against Iceland - again shooting the ball impressively. Having since posted her first full season in the Greek top flight at GS Kronos Agiou Dimitriou, she's also committed to an NCAA  career with Stanford.

Anna Gret Asi - Estonia

From the moment that this dynamic and versatile baller hit the international courts, it has been an upward trajectory all the way. Arriving at the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship Division B in 2017, she excelled with buckets, boards, assists and steals. A year later, she dropped almost 20 points per outing at the 2018 edition which made her the leading scorer. Within months she found herself parachuted into senior action ahead of time, appearing in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2019 Qualifiers in the autumn of 2017, proceeding to play in all six games.

 

And, while the Division B status of Estonia has not allowed her to compete at a global FIBA youth tournament, she enhanced her reputation enormously when she was MVP of the Basketball Without Borders Europe camp and was listed for the BWB 2020 Global Camp. Since then she has played and contributed impressively in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers for Estonia, with almost 25 minutes per game telling us why she is so valued and was snapped up by Arizona in the NCAA.

Laura Meldere - Latvia

The first stopping point for Meldere was the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup four years ago , followed by the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship a month later. While both tournaments harvested only modest contributions, she erupted at the next U16 tournament in Bourges with a super 14 points and 12 rebounds per game -  also going up against opponents four years older at the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship 2017.  During 2018, Meledere appeared at her second FIBA U17 tournament - racking up a scorching tournament double-double in Minsk. She featured at the Basketball Without Borders Europe camp in Belgrade and, in what was a busy summer, propelled Latvia to the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup with a super Semi-Finals showing at the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship.

Last year she played in Bangkok at the U19 Worlds, combining this with a return to Italy and Reyer Venezia. The past 12 months have been highly significant after starting her Italian Serie A1 career and also making a EuroLeague Women debut. That came alongside representing Latvia in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers, averaging more than 13 minutes per game during the opening window and showing why she is a future anchor in the paint for her country at the senior level.

 Luisa Geiselsoder - Germany

Geiselsoder is surely destined to be a leading light for what could be Europe's next new senior force. She is one of an array of brilliant young talents that Germany hope can transform them into a real power. Crowned MVP in Udine at the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship four years ago, the frontcourt star was brilliant in taking her team to a historic silver medal. Two years later it was a historical gold at the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship - also in Udine.

That meant a ticket to the  FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Thailand last year and with Geiselsoder impressing domestically in the DBBL too, the call came for her to appear in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers. She did a great job in the first window with 13 points on her debut and she shot 63 percent from the floor across the first two games. Fast forward 12 months and she has been picked in the 2020 WNBA Draft by Dallas Wings and is competing in the highly rated French League with Landerneau Bretagne Basket, who are also counting down to their EuroCup Women debut.

Veronika Vorackova - Czech Republic

Last but not least, many fans will already be aware of Vorackova, since she actually squeezed onto the Czech senior bench for the  past two Final Rounds in 2017 and 2019. However, she was given less than 20 minutes across those entire tournaments and didn't get to show her incredible talent that has been on view throughout her stellar youth career. Indeed she started out with a historical gold in Matosinhos at the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2015, proceeding to play globally at the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup a year later. Another major highlight came during 2018 when she was MVP of the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship Division B, with her spectacular efforts taking the Czechs to promotion.

It hasn't all been plain sailing, with an NCAA career at Syracuse only lasting a year. However, she is now back and has had an electric start to the domestic season with ZVVZ USK Praha, posting a massive quadruple-double in the first ZBL game. Knowing what it takes to play EuroLeague Women minutes, she will be back featuring in that competition, while she will also push to make a third Final Round with Czech Republic next year, with the 21-year-old destined to be one of  their main standouts.

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