The Slovak men’s basketball team advanced from the F-group to the pre-qualification of the 2023 World Cup.
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She needed to win the match by at least 15 points to take 2nd place in the group. After five years, Slovakia will play a proper qualification for the top event.
Prequalification MS 2023 – F-group:
Northern Macedonia – Slovakia 72:88 (32:38)
Most points Northern Macedonia: Nikolov 17, Mekikj 16, Krstevski 15 – composition and points of Slovakia: Fusek 23, Brodziansky 17, Ihring 13, Abrhám 12, Krajčovič 6 (Petráš 9, Körner 6, Malovec 2, Hronský 0). TH: 16/12 – 19/13, fouls: 21 – 15, threesomes: 10 – 9, quarters: 13:17, 19:21, 19:28, 21:22, decided by: Sahin (ITA), Proc ( Poľ.), Karabilecen (TUR).
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Coach Oleg Meleshchchenko’s enthusiasts entered the decisive duel of the pre-qualification of the 2023 World Cup fearlessly, without respect and took the lead from the beginning.
The opponent’s defense could not cope mainly with Fusek, who took care of 9 out of 11 points. Northern Macedonia responded by changing tactics, but the Slovaks had the floor in the sub-basket area. Thanks to that, they led 17:13 after the first part of the match.
In the second ten minutes, a problem came up that troubles the Slovak team during the entire tournament in Skopje. The 2:10 points section put the opponent on horseback, and Wiley led the turn.
This time, however, the Slovaks managed to stay within range, in the end they even took the lead again. The pair of Krajčovič and Fusek largely took care of the fact that the half-time break was in a favorable 38:32 condition.
The Slovaks started the second half very well, 10 points in the series brought them a double-digit lead and once again revived the progressive hopes. Northern Macedonia was taken aback by the development on the board, it had big problems defending Abrham, Fusek or Krajčovič.
Slovak basketball players even made the necessary difference to advance to the next stage, leading 66:51 before the final part. Coach Oleg Meleshchenko’s charges increased their lead with an exemplary defense and a good attack, so the ideal scenario was getting closer.
In the end, however, Northern Macedonia took over and Slovakia still had to fight hard to maintain the necessary leadership. Körner recorded a decisive basket 17 seconds before the end, after a successful defense, the Slovaks could enjoy the process.
Oleg Meleshchenko, coach of Slovakia: “What can I say, a miracle happened. This is the first match that if we want to play, I saw that our work brought results. I want to congratulate the whole of Slovakia, I am very grateful for the guys who played excellent basketball.
Northern Macedonia was not about anything, but they also have respect, they can’t lose. They also fought to the end, luck was fortunately on our side.
Congratulations to the implementation team and the SBA, but most of all to the guys who believed in what we offered them as coaches. Now we will have a confrontation with the best and we will grow. Thank you very much.”
Michael Fusek, Slovak player: “I’m definitely happy for my performance. I’ve finally caught on to what I can do – quick counterattacks, smashes and rebounds.
Then I started to believe and finally my game looked the way it should. Procedure means a lot. It was reflected that we had been working over the years and in the fall.
We have finally moved somewhere further and we can prove that we can play with the better ones as well. We will definitely move when there are teams like Spain or the Czech Republic, it will look completely different than when we play against Kosovo or Northern Macedonia. “
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| Final table of the F-group: | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | S. Macedonia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 270:263 | 6 |
| 2. | SLOVAKIA | 4 | 2 | 2 | 259:262 | 6 |
| 3. | Switzerland | 4 | 2 | 2 | 249:253 | 6 |
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The highlighted teams advanced to the MS 2023 qualification
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