The United States and France have secured spots for the upcoming Paris Olympics this summer time in girls’s basketball. The remaining ten spots are to be decided this week by means of 4 qualifying tournaments held throughout the globe.
Belgium, China, Hungary, and Brazil will every function hosts for 4 groups, competing in a round-robin format beginning Thursday. In Brazil and Hungary, the highest three groups will safe their locations within the Olympics.
Meanwhile, in Belgium and China, the highest two groups, excluding the U.S. and France, can even earn {qualifications} for the Games.
The U.S. has assembled a roster crammed with WNBA gamers for the match in Belgium.
Their schedule contains matches towards the host nation on Thursday, adopted by video games towards Senegal and Nigeria over the weekend.
Notably absent from the roster are Olympians A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner, and Chelsea Gray, all of whom stay sturdy candidates for the Paris crew.
While the U.S. is utilizing skilled gamers on its roster, the groups taking part in in Brazil have just a few school gamers. South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso is lacking the No. 1 Gamecocks’ subsequent two video games to compete with the Brazilian crew.
UCLA ahead Lina Sontag is taking part in with the German crew, and Angela Dugalic is with the Serbian squad.
Washington State’s Charlisse Leger-Walker was set to play for New Zealand earlier than she tore her proper ACL late final month.
Here are just a few different issues to search for within the qualifying tournaments:
Nigeria will play Senegal on the opening night time in Belgium, and the winner will doubtless be the Olympic consultant for the continent. African groups have struggled on the Olympics since first taking part in 1996, successful simply as soon as within the 2004 Games. Nigeria beat South Korea in that contest.
Nigeria did have a serious breakthrough on the 2018 World Cup, making the quarterfinals earlier than falling to the U.S. It was the primary time that any African nation had reached the quarterfinals.
Lauren Jackson’s worldwide basketball profession with the Australian nationwide crew may have at the very least yet one more chapter to it. The 42-year-old three-time WNBA MVP, who has gained 4 Olympic medals with Australia, is a part of the Opals crew that may play in Brazil.
Jackson capped off an unimaginable comeback on the World Cup in 2022, serving to the host nation win a bronze medal. She scored 30 factors in that recreation to assist Australia rout Canada 95-65. She had retired from taking part in in 2016 after knee accidents derailed her profession, lacking the Rio Olympics. She slowly returned, taking part in in a home Australian league the previous couple of years.
Germany, led by the Sabally sisters, Satou and Nyara, is making an attempt to earn its first journey to the Olympics. It could be an additional enhance for the nation that’s internet hosting the 2026 World Cup.
Former Canada coach Lisa Thomaidis took over the German crew in April, taking part in in Brazil with Australia and Serbia.
Canada guard Kia Nurse stated on a convention name that she would miss the match due to a minor harm. With France already having a berth within the Olympics locked up and China internet hosting the qualifying match, it’s doubtless that the winner of the sport between Puerto Rico and New Zealand will get the opposite bid from that space.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
