PHOTO GALLERY |
|
| NEWSComeback kings Serbia are the UMCOR U18 European Champions. Down by 16 points in the second quarter, Serbia fought back and ultimately wore down an excellent Greek side to complete a clean sweep of gold medals in youth tournaments this summer. |
|
Spain finished fifth in the U18 European Championships after winning their final game 92-85 against last year’s champions France. It may not be the same as winning the gold but the hosts still celebrated the victory quite emphatically with their fans after the game, despite the obvious disappointment of missing out on a medal after only losing one game all tournament. |
|
And so, as all good things must come to an end, so too must this year’s UMCOR U18 European Championships Men in Madrid.
It’s been another good year, and while some things came as no surprise – such as Serbia’s charge to the final, their third of the summer at European youth levels – there were other things that people may not have seen coming, like Latvia’s long unbeaten run and Estonia’s qualification from their group at Italy’s expense. |
|
Greece emphatically overcame a brave Lithuania team 86-78 in one of the most entertaining games of the tournament so far to take up their place in the final against Serbia. The Greeks needed a massive performance from star man Konstantinos Koufos to get past the Lithuanians, as he scored nothing less than 37 points while pulling down 20 rebounds and blocking five shots to help his side earn what looked like their toughest win yet. |
|
Fifth place in the tournament will be contested between France and hosts Spain, after they both won in big victories against Croatia and Turkey respectively. France overcame Croatia 75-59 in one-sided but entertaining game, before Spain showed some often spectacular play in their big 84-64 win over Turkey. |
|
Serbia have booked the first place in this year’s final after digging out a big 82-71 win against a battling Latvia. A last quarter surge from the Serbians, led again by a mammoth Milan Macvan with 20 points and 15 rebounds, saw off a brave challenge from the Latvians after neither team had been able to command in the first three phases of the game. |
|
As the final stage of the games dawns we look back at some of the players who have so far taken the tournament by storm with some great individual performances.
There have been a number of surprises already in the tournament, and some great team showings from the likes of Latvia especially with their long unbeaten run taking them to the semis, but here we present the players who, irrespective of team performance, have simply been a pleasure to watch so far. |
|
In football in England there’s a tradition known as “Lads and Dads”, where amateur football teams are put together consisting of, as you may have guessed, kids and their fathers. Should ever such a trend take hold in FIBA Europe competitions (unlikely, but still...) we could get a pretty good side together here at the UMCOR U18 European Championships in Madrid. |
|
|
|
| FINAL STANDINGS |
|
|
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
