CHARLOTTE (Steve Goldberg's Wheel World) - If you want to keep up with where the big wheelchair basketball action is this summer, I would suggest you become Facebook friends with Great Britain's Gregg Warburton. Last week he was in Toronto adding some bling to his wardrobe with a gold medal and MVP honors in the IWBF U23 Men's World Championship.

This week, the Warburton world tour has taken him to Tenerife in the Canary Islands where Spain is hosting the IWBF Euro 2017 Men's and Women's Championships. This is his second major run with the senior team, the first being last year's Paralympic Games in Rio where he earned a bronze medal.

There may be others doing double duty in Tenerife but none that have the chance to double down on the summer like Warburton.

So far, his GB team are 2-0, with convincing wins over Sweden and Israel. 

But that only keeps them even in Group B with Germany and Turkey who have also won both of their first matches. Israel, Lithuania, and Sweden are all 0-2. Saturday's game between Turkey and Germany ensures that one of those will fall from the top.

Host Spain opened the 2017 European championships with wins over Poland (above) and Switzerland. Photo courtesy of @Eurotenerifewb2017.

In Group A, hosts Spain, and Italy are both undefeated after two games followed by Netherlands and Poland at 1-1, then France and Switzerland at 0-2.

Based on what I saw in Rio, I give Spain the best chance to make the final from Group A and with Great Britain just ahead of Turkey from Group B.

Women

Marieke Miller is the remaining go-to player on a German women's side that won Paralympic gold in London and finished second in Rio. Gone are Annika Zeyen, Gesche Schuenemann, and Marina Mohnen, three of the world's best players over the last decade.

Martin Otto, the two-time German Paralympian (Sydney, Athens), and former coach of the RBC Cologne 99ers, who took the reins from Holger Glinicki after Rio, has shown that Germany will not go quietly into the night with wins over Great Britain and Spain.

Mareike Miller shoots against Great Britain at the IWBF Euro17 Wheelchair Basketball Championships. Photo courtesy of @Eurotenerifewb2017.

The game one win was a tight affair that saw the Germans go ahead by 10 in the fourth quarter only to Great Britain gain all that back plus one with 25 seconds to play. Barbara Gross's shot gave Germany back the lead two seconds later and Anne Patzwald hit a free throw to close out the scoring 55-53 to favor Germany.

The Netherlands, bronze medalists from Rio, have already beaten France and Turkey to match the Germans 2-0. They will face their medal game foes Great Britain today (Saturday) and Germany on Monday in games that will sort out which two will face off in a semifinal and which one will probably see France or Spain.

In the meantime, there's a full week of hoops to enjoy. You can follow Euro17 on Facebook and Twitter as well as on the main website.

Click here for the men's schedule or women's schedule.

U23 Wrap-up

Back to Warburton and the U23 tournament.

The final four came down to the Brits against Japan, and Turkey against Australia.

The semifinals provided little drama though, save for the fourth quarter 14-0 run by Australia that cut a 20 point Turkey lead to just 4 with 47 seconds to play. But that was a cliché too-little-too-late as Halil Ibrahim Bağli hit two free throws to stop the late Aussie run and Ahmet Efetürk hit yet another mid-range shot to close out the score at 60-52.

 Turkey's Ahmet Efetürk loomed large at the IWBF U23 World Championship but Britain was greater in the final. Photo courtesy of Wheelchair Basketball Canada.

Japan's total meltdown against Great Britain came with no warning as they had handled host Canada 58-45 in the quarterfinal. They finished group play with the same 4-1 record as but were ranked third on point differential.

GB jumped out 21-0, finishing the quarter up 23-6 and going ahead by 44 before the buzzer mercifully sounded at 76-34.

Seventh at home in the 2013 Men's U23 Worlds, Turkey went into the gold medal game as the only team without a loss (7-0) in the tournament. They had steamrolled most teams, the closest margin a 7 point game over Australia in pool play. They beat the Aussies again by 8 in the semi.

It looked as though they would finish with a perfect record and the gold when they led by 9 in the first quarter. By halftime, Great Britain, fourth in Adana four years ago, cut that to 2 and were ahead by 4 after three periods. As the Brits gained strength, Turkey couldn't keep pace. Final score 54-43.

Ben Fox paced the Brits with 23 points with Jack Perry adding 20. Efetürk led Turkey with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Enes Bulut added 13 points.

 Great Britain celebrates a world title in Toronto. Can they get another in Tenerife? Photo courtesy of Wheelchair Basketball Canada

The All Star 5 for the tournament were Jim Palmer (GBR), Tom O'Neill-Thorne (AUS), Ahmet Efetürk (TUR), Renshi Chokai, and Takuya Furusawa (JAP). As you know, Warburton was the MVP. Now he's taken his talents to Tenerife.

Let's see what happens there.

Steve Goldberg

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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