24/08/08 Like so much else in basketball, the format of the Eurobasket Division A Championship qualifiers is not as straightforward as it may at first seem. Having struggled for a week or so to comprehend the later stages of the system, I felt that others might appreciate the fruits of my investigations. The first part of the system is the least complex, with some countries already pre-qualified for next Summer's Championship Finals, and the other members of Division A playing a Qualifying Round, in Groups. For the Women:
For the Men:
Observant readers will have spotted that this still does not provide sixteen teams for the Finals. By the end of this Summer's qualifiers, there will be fourteen nations lined up for the Women's Finals, and fifteen for the Men's. This is where the Additional Qualifying Round (AQR) comes in.
Which, of course, still leaves the four teams (in each of the Men's and Women's events), with the poorest Qualifying Round records, which didn't even make it to the AQR - and they have an even more nail-biting Summer in store in 2009. They will take part in a Relegation Round, to determine which two will drop down into Division B for the following two-year cycle! If you prefer a diagrammatic explanation of the system, these may be found on the FIBA Europe website - Men's Competition system and Women's Competition system.
24/08/08 Implications for Great Britain. With three games played, the situation for GB Women has already become a little clearer. Victory in Germany last night (Saturday) means that they are not totally out of contention for an automatic Finals place from the Qualifying Round, especially as the top three teams have all taken points off each other. However, they would probably need to win at least four of their remaining five matches (if not all five), and we'll have a clearer idea of where they stand after Wednesday night's home match against Israel. Saturday's victory, though, was even more important in another respect - it means that the spectre of ending up in the Relegation Tournament has receded. One more victory could be enough to make sure that next Summer's destination would be the AQT at least, and if that victory could be achieved before the return visit of Germany on 10th September then it would reduce the pressure that might otherwise accompany that game!
As for the Men, their competition does not start until the beginning of September, but with only four teams in their Group the margin for error is even slimmer. A visit to the top seeds in the Group, Israel, on the opening day of their campaign will provide a useful pointer.
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