Last time Russia got a medal in a U-18 European Championship was in 1990, earning the silver in Groningen (Netherlands) after losing against Italy in the final (in that case they were named as Soviet Union). In that team Vasily Karasev and Igor Kudelin where important pieces of that squad. Twenty years later they will fight again for the gold, but they will have a tough mission. Lithuania, led by Jonas Valanciunas ('92), are the favorites. Yesterday both teams qualifyied for the big game after beating their respective opponents in semifinals. Let's check what happened yesterday, with Bulgaria going down to Division "B" with still one game remaining. Croatia and Poland qualifyied for the U-19 World Championship of next summer in Latvia.
Semifinals:
-Latvia 42 Russia 73: Even latvians kept their chances till half time (23-28) russians killed them in the last quarter (9-26) with five players finishing with double figures (three of them borned in 1993). Sergey Karasev ('93) led the win with 16 points and 4/8 threes, Vlad Trushkin ('93) added 13 with 3/7 from downtown and Andrey Loginov ('93) collected a double-double (12 points and 14 boards). At the other side only Davis Bertans ('92) nailed more than nine points: 12 and 8 rebounds. Latvians shocked with russian defense: 30% twos and 19% threes.
-Lithuania 67 Serbia 66: Very tied game, with Zygimantas Scukas ('92) drawing a foul and scoring a free throw with only one second remaining in the clock. Vytenis Cizauskas ('92) finished as the best scorer of hosts with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 1 steal, but strugging at 3 points line (0/5), while Jonas Valanciunas ('92) scored 8 points, pulling down 14 boards and putting 6 blocks. For Serbia Bogic Vujosevic ('92) poured 15 points and dished 4 assists, and Nikola Siladi ('92) added 14 with 5/8 FG.
Fight for 5th-8th position:
-Greece 55 Poland 74: Polish kids qualifyied for the U-19 World Championship with scoring-machine Mateusz Ponitka ('93) pouring 24 points with 7/8 behind the arc. Anastasios Antonakis ('92), the best scorer at losing effort: 13 points with 3/8 threes.
-Croatia 67 France 61: Croatians are the other team qualifyied for the U-19 WC. Youngster Darijo Saric ('94) led the winners with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Wasn't enough the good job of Thomas Ceci ('92) with 19 points and 5/10 threes. French missed during all the tournament their three most important pieces, injured: Pourchot, Fournier and Westermann.
Fight for 9th-12th position:
-Spain 84 Italy 59: With Alessandro Gentile ('92) missing the game spaniards crashed italians with Pierre Oriola ('92) nailing 19 points and 7 rebounds. Best italian? Matteo Montano ('92): 13 with 4 rebounds.
-Turkey 74 Slovenia 71: Guard Safak Edge ('92) led turkish with 20 points and 5 assists, while at slovenian side shined 2.13 center Alen Omic ('92) -17 points and 11 rebounds- and Marko Pajic ('92) with 16+11.
Classification Round:
-Sweden 49 Germany 78: Germans will play next season in Division "A" after beating swedish with Philipp Neumann ('92) collecting a double-double (15+11). For Sweden Viktor Gaddefors ('92) scored 10 points with 5 boards.
-Ukraine 104 Bulgaria 63: Bulgarians lost the category after being crashed by 41 points. V'Yacheslav Bobrov ('92), best scorer of winners with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Hristo Gospodinov ('92) nailed 18 with 6 rebounds for Bulgaria.
Standings: Germany (4-1), Ukraine (3-2), Sweden (2-3) and Bulgaria (1-4).
Photo: FIBA Europe / Irmantas Sidarevicius
