Serbia crack top 10 of FIBA bwin World Ranking Combined; Dominicans make big jump
MIES (FIBA bwin World Ranking) - The USA and Spain have firm grips on the top two spots in the FIBA bwin World Ranking Combined after another impressive summer in international competition but there has been plenty of movement elsewhere.
The latest combined ranking - which takes into account the points of all categories (Men, Women, Boys, Girls) in the given cycle (2007-2014) - shows that France and Australia leapfrogged Russia (No. 5) to move into the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively, behind No. 1 USA and No. 2 Spain.
The biggest jump by a team in the top 20 was by Serbia, who cracked the top 10 of the combined ranking by climbing four spots to No. 8.
Serbia's men reached the Final of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the country also enjoyed an eighth-place finish at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.
The Serbians were runners-up to Turkey at the U18 European Championship, third at the FIBA U17 World Championship and sixth at the U16 European Championship.
The Serbians also enjoyed a fourth-place finish at the U18 European Championship for Women.
Belarus, whose team finished 10th at Turkey 2014, rose five spots to No. 20 in the combined ranking.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, helped by a rise of 22 spots to No. 41 in the Ranking Youth Men, moved up 18 places in the combined ranking to No. 64.
The country was eighth in the U16 European Championship Division A and 12th in the U18 European Championship.
The Dominican Republic made it to the Round of 16 at Spain 2014, a showing that helped the country rise 10 spots to No. 33 in the combined ranking.
The biggest climber in Asia was the United Arab Emirates (UAE), up eight places to No. 89 while Mexico, the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship winners who reached the Round of 16 in Spain, moved up five rungs to No. 22 in the combined ranking.
Egypt, another side to play at the FIBA Basketball World Cup and who were runners-up at AfroBasket 2013 are now No. 28 after a rise of four places.
The nation with the greatest fall in the combined ranking was Nigeria, who dropped 12 runs to No. 40.
FIBA
