Germany, Dec 1, 2013: The Youth European Championships 2014 Draw took place on Sunday in Freising, Germany. A total of 224 Men’s and Women’s teams were drawn in 16 Championships across three Divisions (A, B and C), and three age categories (U20, U18 and U16).
FIBA Europe Acting President Cyriel Coomans opened proceedings while the Draw was conducted by FIBA Europe Head of Competitions Richard Stokes.
Coomans reiterated that the draw is the official start of the Youth European Championship 2014 season and underlined the importance of the youth championships.
“We are preparing the stars of tomorrow, as both in the men’s and women’s competitions those players will make sure we retain the high level of competition in future years.
“I wish all participating Federations the best of luck for both the draw and the competition itself next summer.”
FIBA Europe Secretary General Kamil Novak spoke prior to the commencement of the draw, stating, “We are all aware of the importance the Youth European Championships have for FIBA Europe and the National Basketball Federations in Europe.”
The Men’s tournaments will be hosted by Greece (U20 Division A), Bosnia and Herzegovina (U20 Division B), Turkey (U18 Division A), Ukraine (U18 Division B), Andorra (U18 Division C), Latvia (U16 Division A), F.Y.R. of Macedonia (U16 Division B) and Malta (U16 Division C).
The Women’s tournaments will be hosted by Italy (U20 Division A), Bulgaria (U20 Division B), Portugal (U18 Division A), Romania (U18 Division B), Andorra (U18 Division C), Hungary (U16 Division A), Estonia (U16 Division B) and Malta (U16 Division C).
The European Championships for Small Countries Men and Women were also drawn on Sunday.
The Women’s competition will take place in St. Pölten, Austria while the Men will meet in Gibraltar.
EuroBasket Women 2nd QR Drawn
The Draw for the EuroBasket Women 2015 2nd Qualification Round was completed in Freising, Germany on Sunday.
The 2nd Qualification Round will see 22 teams compete for the 11 remaining spots available at EuroBasket Women in June 2015.
The games will take place in June 2014 with the teams divided into four groups of four and two groups of three teams.
The game dates are 8th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 22nd and 25th June.
Group A will see Poland, finalists of the 1st Qualification Round, go up against Slovenia, Luxembourg and the Slovak Republic, while Great Britain, Lithuania, Belgium and F.Y.R. of Macedonia were drawn in Group B.
EuroBasket Women 2013 quarter-finalists Italy will take on Latvia, Estonia and Portugal in Group C, whilst Montenegro are joined by Ukraine, Germany and Finland in Group D.
2011 European champions Russia were drawn in three-team Group E, together with EuroBasket Women 2013 surprise package Sweden and the Netherlands. Croatia, Bulgaria and Israel will play in Group F, the second group of three teams.
Each team will play every other team in its group on a home and away basis with the six group winners and five second-best placed teams joining the already qualified teams in Hungary and Romania.
Those teams that have already qualified are the two host nations (Hungary and Romania); Greece who won the EuroBasket 2015 Women 1st Qualification Round; and Spain, France, Turkey, Serbia, Belarus, and the Czech Republic who will all compete at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.
“Women’s basketball plays a significant role at FIBA Europe,” FIBA Europe Acting President Cyriel Coomans said.
“The past EuroBasket Women in France was a great success. We watched high-quality basketball in full arenas, and we are certain that the next edition in Hungary and Romania will be just as fascinating and successful.” —- FIBA Europe
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.