Belgians and Spaniards in the quarters, the Serbs trapped and in the barrage

The Belgian and Spanish basketball players won their last match in the first round on Sunday and join the French in the quarter-finals of Euro-2023 while the Serbian defending champions were trapped by Hungary and will have to go through a barrage.

ured of the first place since Friday thanks to their two victories against Germany (58-50) and Great Britain (63-57), the French have difficulty beating Slovenia (73-68) in a match without stake.

However, they saw Iliana Rupert come out injured in the middle of the second quarter, hit in the right shoulder. The interior of Virtus Bologna went to undergo examinations to find out the seriousness of her injury.

For the other three direct tickets to the quarter-finals, Julie German’s Belgium had a little scare against Italy on Sunday in Tel Aviv (Israel).

Less dominating than against Israel (108-59) and the Czech Republic (84-41), the Belgians made the difference in the last quarter against Italy, to win 72 to 64, and remain undefeated.

Belgians and French, the only two selections of this 1st round with three victories in as many matches on the clock, find themselves in the same half of the table.

In Ljubljana, the Serbs recorded their first defeat, surprised by Hungary carried by Virag Kiss (81-75). This success allows the Magyars to take first place in the group, and to climb into the quarters.

The Serbian defeat, on the other hand, has two significant consequences for Marina Maljkovic’s players: first, they will have to play one more game, a trap against Great Britain, and in the event of victory, they will find themselves in the quarter of Belgium, the most impressive team at the start of the competition.

In Tel Aviv, Spain finally put behind their initial loss against Latvia by outcling Greece 76-60 on Sunday evening. Thanks to Montenegro’s victory against Latvia at midday, the Spaniards scratch the first place and the ticket for the quarters, finding themselves in the same half of the table as the Hungarians.

This European Championship awards the six places for the qualifying tournaments for the Olympic Games, the four teams beaten in the quarter-finals will have to win the clification match scheduled for the end of next week.