“I think I added 2-3 kilograms to my weight, which is too much for me. We enjoyed great food all the time. FIBA and especially the Lithuanian Basketball Federation deserve a lot of respect for the way it went. Everyone felt very safe, the hotel’s service felt not five but six stars. The vehicles were constantly cleaned, so Lithuanians deserve a lot of respect”, – said the head coach of the Danish national team Erez Bittman after his stay in Vilnius.
Although the coach hoped that his team would play the next match at home, the team will visit Vilnius again. During today’s FIBA meeting, the hosts of the February „bubbles” were confirmed, and Lithuania was again entrusted with organizing the European Basketball Championship qualification tournament.
„We are glad that our candidacy has received a lot of support and good feedback. In February, we will organize a qualifiers tournament in Lithuania again. For us, those are ‘do or die’ matches, because they will determine whether we will qualify to the European Championship. We had to play the last two matches away, so I think it will be a slight advantage for us to play at home”, – said Mindaugas Špokas, Secretary General of LKF, who participated in the meeting remotely.
Other groups will play in Poland (A), Russia (B), Turkey (D), Georgia (E), Ukraine (F), Montenegro (G), Latvia (H).
Lithuanians are currently sharing 2-3 places in the C group with the Danish national team. Czech Republic and the two best teams of the group will qualify to the European Championship. In the tournament that will take place in February, Lithuanians will meet with the Czech Republic, which they defeated in the first game with the result 97:89 and the Danish national team, who beat Lithuanians with the result 76:80.
The women’s national team will play the European Championship qualifiers in Turkey again in February. Theywill play against Turkey (February 4) and Serbia (February 6) in the Group E.
