The semifinals of the U-18 Division "A" European Championship, held in Vilnius (Lithuania), are already set: Latvia-Russia and Lithuania-Serbia. The four teams qualifyied today for the top-4 after beating their respective opponents in the quarterfinals, with the hosts sending a clear message to everybody crashing Greece by 33 points. Jonas Valanciunas ('92) & Co. were eliminated last year in semifinals against France, and in this edition in front their supporters (4500 today) they are going straight to the gold medal. Let's check what happened in the last two days of competition.
Qualifying Round
-Spain 73 Slovenia 69: Francisco Guerra ('92) 19 points with 9/11 FG in 15'; Alen Omic ('92) 20 points, 11 rebounds and 1 block.
-Croatia 82 Turkey 77: Toni Katic ('92) 21 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists; Muhammed Baygül ('92) 19 points with 3/3 threes in 23'.
-Latvia 75 Lithuania 78: Edmunds Dukulis ('92) 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals; Jonas Valanciunas ('92) 22 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks.
-Serbia 97 Italy 52: Nikola Siladi ('92) 15 points and 11 rebounds in 16'; Marko Ceron ('92) 14 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal.
-Poland 65 France 69: Michal Michalak ('93) 15 points with 4/6 threes and 6 rebounds; Rudy Gobert ('92) 13 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists.
-Russia 69 Greece 52: Vladislav Trushkin ('93) 14 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks; Sokratis Psaropoulos ('92) 18 points with 8/15 FG and 3 rebounds.
Standings
Group E: Lithuania (5-0), Latvia (3-2), Poland (2-3), France (2-3), Spain (2-3) and Slovenia (1-4).
Group F: Russia (4-1), Serbia (3-2), Croatia (3-2), Greece (3-2), Italy (1-4) and Turkey (1-4).
Quarterfinals
-Russia 73 France 68 (OT): Vladislav Trushkin ('93) 22 points with 6/15 threes and 9 rebounds; Hugo Invernizzi ('93) 20 points with 5/12 threes and 3 rebounds.
-Latvia 78 Croatia 56: Davis Bertans ('92) -at the pic- 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists; Boris Barac ('92) 15 points, 10 rebounds and 1 steal.
-Lithuania 84 Greece 51: Dovydas Redikas ('92) 19 points with 3/4 threes and 3 rebounds; Linos Chrysikopoulos ('92) 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks.
-Serbia 75 Poland 57: Bogdan Bogdanovic ('92) 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals; Mateusz Ponitka ('93) 20 points with 3/5 threes and 3 rebounds.
Fight for the 9th-12th position
-Spain 60 Turkey 66: Alex Barrera ('92) 14 points with 2/5 threes and 2 rebounds; Safak Edge ('92) 17 points with 4/9 threes and 5 rebounds.
-Italy 91 Slovenia 96: Marco Ceron ('92) 34 points with 11/24 FG and 4 assists; Marko Pajic ('92) 20 points, 20 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Classification Round
-Ukraine 76 Sweden 80: Klym Artamonov ('93) 22 points with 4/7 threes and 7 assists; Marcus Eriksson ('93) 17 points with 5/12 threes and 8 rebounds.
-Bulgaria 58 Germany 65: Dimitar Dimitrov ('93) 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists; Martin Breunig ('92) 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks.
-Germany 59 Ukraine 74: Philipp Neumann ('92) 17 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks; Klym Artamonov ('93) 25 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
-Bulgaria 73 Sweden 70: Dimitar Dimitrov ('93) 20 points with 4/8 threes and 8 rebounds; Marcus Eriksson ('93) 21 points with 7/11 threes and 3 rebounds.
Standings: Germany (3-1), Sweden (2-2), Ukraine (2-2) and Bulgaria (1-3).
Photo: FIBA Europe / Robertas Dackus
