Before Thursday’s draw in Sopron, it was already known which hat the national team of national team captain Norbert Székely was waiting for their opponents. The 16 teams of the qualification were ranked by the international association (FIBA) into four hats, and the Hungarians, who were fourth in the European Championship in June, were placed fourth next to Senegal, New Zealand and Germany.
In addition to the Hungarians, 13 other national teams are known to have qualified: the United States (world champion), Belgium, Spain, France, Serbia and Germany (the best of the European Championship), China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand (the best of the Asian Championship), Brazil (the best of the American Championship) and Nigeria and Senegal (the best of the African Championship). They will be joined by two more bands from November’s American qualifier, which will take place between November 9 and 12 in Medellin, Colombia.
During the draw, FIBA took into account several principles. France and the United States, which already have a quota, will also participate in the qualifiers, but they could not be in the same four. In addition, at least one and at most two European teams had to be in the field at each tournament, China and Japan, as well as Australia and New Zealand, as well as the two African national teams could not be drawn for the same tournament – FIBA wanted to ensure that all regions were represented in the tournament. at the Olympics. In addition, each tournament had to feature a team from the Americas.
Taking all aspects into account, it was already known that Australia or Spain from the first hat, France or one of the American teams from the second, and Japan or the other American team from the third could be the opponents of the Székely formation.
At Thursday’s event, Márton Báder, the president of the Hungarian association, greeted those present in the recently renovated Museum Quarter.
“Thanks to Sopron for the beautiful location, basketball in this city is much more than a sport. Last year, Sopron Basket became the first Hungarian team to win the Euroleague, and the managing director Zoltán Török is one of the most dedicated people in domestic basketball. (…) Recently, Hungarian basketball is not very showed itself at the Olympics, the women’s national team last participated in the 1980 Games and came fourth under the leadership of Lenke Kiss, who is present. he added.
Then the excellence of Sopron Basket, the Olympic bronze medalist and European champion with Serbia, Jelena Brooks, took to the podium, who said that nowadays basketball has become much more physical, but it is always a great honor to wear the national team jersey.
After the feat presented at the European Championship by Norbert Székely, now is the chance to compete again at the Olympics after 1980 for the women’s basketball team. Go for it girls! Come on, Captain!
– Péter Szijjártó wrote on his social media page:
The 328-time national team player Lenke Kiss, who won a bronze medal at the European Championships in 1983 after fourth place at the Olympics, also assisted in the draw.
Among the opponents of the Hungarians, the Spaniards finished sixth at the Tokyo Games, and this year they won a silver medal at the European Championship. As hosts, the Japanese finished second at the Olympics and at the recent Asian Games.
The four tournaments will be hosted by Sopron, Antwerp, Belem in Brazil and a Chinese city. Three teams from the four will be able to travel to Paris. From the groups in which the French and the Americans are included, the two best teams besides them will get a quota.
The Hungarian women’s national team has participated in the Olympics once so far, in 1980, and finished fourth in Moscow.
Captain Norbert Székely started by saying that he had improved in combinatorics in the past few days, and there was a fifty percent chance that this scenario would come true.
“We knew that if Spain was drawn from the first hat, this would definitely be our group,” he told MTI. “The American 1 will most likely be Canada or maybe Puerto Rico. It doesn’t really matter who we play, we have to enjoy this tournament and live it as an opportunity. We have to believe in each other until the last moment and we’ll see what happens. We fought in the semi-finals with the Spanish at the Euro , and we beat them during the preparation, and both teams still have reserves.”
The manager said that all the people who can be mobilized will be needed, and that the team is preparing for a wonderful tournament.
Márton Báder believed that a realistic goal should always be set for the national team.
“I don’t like +understating+, before the European Championship we knew we had a good team and we set the goal of reaching the top eight. This was exceeded by the girls, who make up a very well-structured, young but already experienced team. Now an Olympic qualifier is coming, which the girls owe to themselves in the sense that they fought for this opportunity at the European Championships. We could have had an easier group, but that’s not what we need to worry about now, and personally I’m really looking forward to the qualifiers in February, since a few years ago we wouldn’t have thought that the we will play for an Olympic start. We have to win one match in Sopron, and if we succeed, it can have a huge impact on the reputation of our sport,” added the MKOSZ president.
Olympic qualifying groups:
Sopron: HUNGARY, Spain, US qualifier 1, Japan
Antwerp: Belgium, United States, Nigeria, Senegal
Belem: Brazil, Australia, Serbia, Germany
China Venue: China, France, American Qualifier 2nd, New Zealand
