Yesterday started the fight for five spots at the Eurobasket of next year in Lithuania. Fifteen teams have options, shared in three different groups. The first of each one and the best two seconds will make it. In this opener many youngsters shined, specially hungarians David Vojvoda ('90) and Adam Hanga ('89), at the pic. But both weren't enough to beat Great Britain (82-91) even the guard scored 18 points with 3/7 threes and grabbed 6 rebounds and the forward nailed 20, with 10 boards and 3 assists. For brits Devan Bailey ('89) didn't play. In the same group B FYROM won in Ukraine (58-71) with local Denys Lukashov ('89) pouring 12 points with 2/3 threes and 3 assists. For the winners Marko Simonovski ('89) didn't play.

 

In group A Montenegro started strong crashing Latvia (96-66). Vladimir Mihailovic ('90) didn't play for locals, while Janis Strelnieks ('89) finished as the best scorer at the losing effort: 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. In the other game Israel won in Italy (71-79).

 

Finally in group C Georgia beat Poland (84-65) with local Giorgi Shermadini ('89), from Panathinaikos, scoring 4 points and pulling down 4 rebounds in 13 minutes. In the other contest Bulgaria beat Portugal in the road (59-67). Aleksandar Georgiev ('90), who made a great U-20 Division "B" European Championship, played 20 minutes for winners, nailing 2 points and grabbing 4 rebounds.

 

Standings:

-Group A: Montenegro (1-0), Israel (1-0), Italy (0-1), Latvia (0-1) and Finland (0-0).

-Group B: FYROM (1-0), Great Britain (1-0), Hungary (0-1), Ukraine (0-1) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (0-0).

-Group C: Georgia (1-0), Bulgaria (1-0), Portugal (0-1), Poland (0-1) and Belgium (0-0).  

 

Photo: Albakosar