It’s a historic summer for Spanish basketball in the training categories. This Saturday, the U18 men’s team qualified in style for the final of the Eurobasket and thus obtained the fifth medal of Spanish basketball in as many championships.
The boys who lead the technician Dani Miret They overwhelmed Serbia (60-38) with an impressive defensive recital and this Sunday, from 7:30 p.m. (Spanish time, broadcast on the Youtube of FIBA and for telesport), gold will be played against Turkey in this championship which is played in the city of Konya (Turkey).
The other four teams that won medals were the men’s and women’s under-20s, who each won gold in their respective categories. Eurobasketsand the male and female Sub 17, who hung the silver in their world cups. Spainwho has occupied second place in the world rankings established by FIBA for years, second only to the United States, has a bright future ahead of these new generations of players.
The U20 men’s team that will play the final of the Eurobasket is composed of Rafa Villar (FC Barcelona), Niko Cebrián (Real Madrid), Alejandro Moreno (Casademont Zaragoza), Sediq Garuba (Real Madrid), Jordi Rodríguez (Joventut), Luis García (Coosur Betis), Eddy Pinero (Sunrise Christian Academy), Martín Iglesias (FC Barcelona), David Gómez (Coosur Betis), José Roberto Tanchyn (Unicaja Málaga), Izan Almansa (Overtime Elite) and Victory Onuetu (Unicaja Málaga).
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One of the players who will repeat the medal this summer will be Almansa, who has already achieved it with the Sub 17 in the World Cup, in which he was chosen as the best player in the championship. Despite a competition with players who are mostly a year older than him, Almansa signs a brilliant championship. Against Serbia, he was again the game’s best player with a PIR of 29 (21 points and 12 rebounds).
Pinero (11 points) and Garuba (9) backed him up to perfection in a game where Spain once again showed excellent defense that left the Balkan side dry. With partials of 7-12 in the first quarter, 6-19 in the second and 10-19 in the third, Spain finished the duel before the last ten minutes and had no trouble. It should be remembered that this team, on the strength of its victory in the quarter-finals the day before, had already ensured its presence at the next U19 World Cup 2023.
This Sunday, Spain has the possibility of obtaining the most brilliant medal, even if for that he will have to defeat the host team. They met in the group stage with a Spanish victory (64-56). It will be the same final as three years ago, when the Spanish team won gold at the 2019 European Championships which took place in will be (Greece)