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    Categories: 2018

Sports: EuroBasket: Austria, Armenia Await Great Britain

MVP
July 5 2018

Great Britain’s men will need to get past Austria and Armenia to reach the qualifiers for EuroBasket 2021.

Exiting the World Cup in the first qualifying phase means GB drop into Group D the pre-qualifying phase for the Euros.

The teams have been divided into four groups of three teams, and will face every other team in their group in both home and away fixtures. The games will take place in the same windows as the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers, in September 2018, November 2018 and February 2019.

GB schedule:
16 September 2018 v Armenia (A)
29 November 2018 v Austria (H)
21 Februrary 2019 v Armenia (H)
24 February 2019 v Austria (A)

The winning team of each of the four groups will then move directly into the FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers which start in autumn 2019. The losing teams meanwhile, will enter the Third Round of the Pre-Qualifiers in August 2019, where they will be joined by the five teams that were knocked out in the First Round of the Pre-Qualifiers, as they seek a second chance to make the Qualifiers.

Meanwhile Alan Keane and James Vear will remain as head coaches of the Great Britain Under-18 and Under-16 men’s teams.

Keane returns after leading the side into Europe’s Division A last summer. This year’s European Championships in Latvia from July 28-August 5 with drawn against Lithuania, Montenegro and Serbia in the opening round.

Vear was in charge with GB’s Under-16s came fourth in Division B’s European Championships in 2017. This year’s event, to be held in Sarajevo from August 9-18, puts his side in a group with Sweden, Portugal, Luxembourg, Romania and Ireland.

Kevo Kalantarian: