TOULOUSE (FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) – And so the first-ever FIBA U17 World Championship comes to a thrilling end with the USA proving just why they were tournament favourites and finishing with an unbeaten record (8-0). Hosts France take a well-deserved silver medal while China came from behind against Belgium to snatch third place.

Here are some of the best sound bites on the final day of the competition.

Quote of the Day

“I’m extremely excited. It’s very exciting to be the first winning team in an inaugural world championship. It’s an honour to compete but even more so to win. This team has given up a lot individually speaking to accomplish this success and the team’s goals. For example, our players played different positions than what they’re used to in high school.”
USA head coach Barbara Nelson after her team beat France to win the gold medal.

Selected quotes

Final

“In sports, you should not have any regrets. We were beaten by a better team so I have no regrets. Reaching the final was a very positive result for us. I would like to thank the people responsible for organising this event, FIBA, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the French Federation.”
France head coach Arnaud Guppillotte.

“This medal is not just the work of a team of 12 players and the coaching and medical staff. It’s the work of an entire national federation and all the people there.”
Guppillotte.

“My congratulations to France. They should be really proud of what they accomplished as a team. They should also be very proud of their organisation and their federation for hosting such a great event. We had a great time here and everyone was very nice to us.”
Nelson.

“We lost heavily but we still got a good result overall. The happiness of taking home a silver medal makes us forget about the disappointment of losing in the final.”
France forward Claire Stievenard.

Bronze medal game

“Congratulations to China. Yesterday’s defeat (against France) was very hard on our players. Today, like yesterday, we felt we didn’t have all the respect from the referees. Finishing in the top four is a miracle but we wanted more and that is why we’re disappointed. It’s hard right now. We need time to take some distance. I am one of the happiest coaches in the world and I am very proud of these girls.”
Belgium head coach Daniel Goethals.

“At halftime, I drew a picture of the world, with a small dot on it. It was us, the village of diehard people. We were against the whole world and defending ourselves. Like in the Belgian comic books Asterix and Obelix. At the head of the village, there was a big fat guy, Obelix – me. We drank magic potion, but it didn’t pay off today.”
Goethals.

“What remains above all is a lot of pride. Thank you to Dan for his amazing coaching and to the whole staff for their outstanding job.”
Belgium assistant coach Daphne Van Dessel.

“This was not a case of getting revenge. We didn't think about it that way. The players had the right attitude. All they wanted was to take that third place. Belgium don’t have big players but they are technically very good. We managed to contain their play in the half court and to grab some rebounds. I must say that Belgium have a very good coach.”
China head coach Wang Guizhi.

5-8 place games

“After the second quarter we played well. The players did a good job. Russian players are very tall so we had to struggle on rebounds and we did a good job in defense to beat Russia.”
Japan head coach Shinichiro Hayashi.

“Two players scored almost all the points. Japan had only four team fouls in 34 minutes. Maybe it is because of their defense, but I have never seen that in my career. I think it’s a miracle in today’s basketball. My girls finished the game after the second quarter. They stopped to play at that moment. A game lasts 40 minutes sometimes more and you should never stop play during the game. It is a lesson for us and a very good experience for my girls.”
Russia head coach Anna Arkhipova-von Kalmanovich.

“I have a lot of respect for Spain. They are one of the best basketball nations. I personally learned a lot from Spanish coaches. I don’t think their ranking actually reflects their real value. I’m proud of my team. These kinds of games are very hard to play because of emotion and sadness. We were tough and showed great spirit.”
Peter Lonergan (Australia head coach).

“I especially would like to thank the journalists here, who have been doing an amazing job. Their questions were always relevant and enabled us to improve and reassess the way we played and analysed the game. And thank you to the FIBA, The French Basketball Federation, the Local Organising Committee and all the volunteers for the great organisation. It was a pleasure to be here.”
Lonergan.

“Congratulations to Australia. We didn’t play the way we wanted to in the second half. It was the worst team of Spain we could have shown. It wasn’t the Spain that had ambitions for this competition.”
Victor Lapena (Spain head coach).

“I hope this championship will serve as a model for the organisation of the coming World Championships.”
Lapena.

“It was a pleasure to take part to this championship.”
Spain forward/centre Silvia Moros.

FIBA/LOC