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Youth international basketball updates from Södertälje The youth international basketball event in Södertälje, Sweden is a Division A event and is given full coverage by FIBA Europe with match reports from all the games.This season with 5 nations participating in the U19 FIBA World Championship at the end of July, some of the nations may not have their strongest line-up. France are in Group C alongside Russia who also qualified for the World Championship last summer as well as the Ukraine and the Slovak Republic. France opened with an easy win over Ukraine (97-43) and followed this up with a displaced defensive display in beating the Slovak Republic (59-42). While France have qualified for the Qualification round, Russia must wait after losing to Ukraine (61-82) in what is considered as a major upset. Calculators may be required after the third round of games if the Slovak Republic win and Russia lose to determine which team will be eliminated from the competition. Sweden, the hosts remain in the hunt for the title after beating Poland (66-57) with 19 points and 19 rebounds coming from Cleopatra Forsman-Goga. They will face Serbia in the final group decider. Serbia finished 5th last year and will be also going to the World Championship. Spain are leading Group B with a perfect record. They will face Latvia in the group deciding game. Latvia beat Belgium twice in 2008 on their way to the European Championship title in Division B. They made up an 8-point deficit in the final quarter to beat Belgium (64-61) with Sabine Niedola pouring in 17 points and taking 18 rebounds. Elsewhere in the youth festival Lithuania, the defending champions have booked their ticket from Group D after beating Italy (67-47). Traditionally the U18 European Championships Women Division A picks up after the first round of games have been completed. Division B newsIsrael open with a win with 28 points from Cohen U18 European Championship Women Division B 2009 is hosted by Israel Return to the Youth International Basketball Index page Picture credits: Date created: 04 July 2009
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