MUNICH (FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017) – Preparation for The Final Round has been continuing, with Spain opting to reduce their candidate list, while Russia, Belarus and Serbia all won friendly tournaments.

Quevedo and Bahi miss out with Spain
She may have played at the Rio Olympics last year, but Laura Quevedo has been denied her FIBA EuroBasket Women debut after being edged out of the Spain squad.

In something of a surprise move, the forward was one of two cuts along with Georgina Bahi, as head coach Lucas Mondelo trimmed his candidate list to 13 players ahead of this week's games in Belgium.

Spain have looked particularly effective during preparation, taking out a tournament in Torrelavega with wins against Japan [67-51] and Canada [64-42] in front of more than 2,000 fans.

Russia show power with tournament success

Russia came out on top in the Torneo de Latina by beating the hosts 65-50 off the back of 13 points from Evgeniia Beliakova. Earlier in the competition, Russia swept aside Hungary 79-53 and also eased to a 57-48 success against Belgium when Maria Vadeeva racked up a 17-point and 15-rebound double-double.

Russia's depth under the basket was underlined by Ksenia Tikhonenko putting in some big performances as well, with the center perhaps making a late surge into contention for a spot at The Final Round.

In the other games, Italy beat Belgium 68-62 as the in-form Giorgia Sottana poured in 23 points, while Andrea Capobianco and his side also tasted success against Hungary with a 71-62 victory.

Czech Republic take a prize scalp

There was relief for Ivan Benes and Czech Republic as they got off the mark to record a preparation win at a friendly tournament in Karlovy Vary. It was a sizeable scalp as they fought off defending FIBA EuroBasket Women champions Serbia by 58-56, with Michaela Stejskalova plundering 13 points.

Still without their newly naturalized center Kia Vaughn who is competing in the WNBA, Czech Republic bounced back from a narrow 73-72 loss to China and a 69-65 reverse against Latvia.

Despite the setback for Serbia, they still took the tournament as Jelena Milovanovic starred throughout as her team collected a 71-66 win against China and a 69-61 victory against Latvia.

Belarus make most of home soil
It’s an anxious time for fans of Belarus as they wait to see formal confirmation of kingpin Yelena Leuchanka committing to play at The Final Round. However, there was a large dose of confidence for the future as they won a tournament in Minsk against Argentina and Great Britain. While they were defeated narrowly 72-68 by the former, they finished top of the competition by beating Great Britain by 77-55.

Viktoryia Hasper was named MVP of the competition and with Belarus also entering a second team made up of primarily U20 players, there was a big tick in the box for Hanna Lapo who impressed.

Slovenia still on course
As they get closer to their FIBA EuroBasket Women Final Round debut, it's all going well for Slovenia after they took another win against Turkey. 

Their latest win against their rivals in preparation was a 76-64 win that was fueled by 23 points from Eva Lisec. It was a match-up also watched by Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who was supporting his sister Teja.

Double delight for Slovak Republic
While it has been a challenging period of preparation for new Slovak Republic play-caller Marian Svoboda, there has been a major uplift in confidence over the weekend. That was due to his side sealing back-to-back wins against Greece.

Veteran legend Zuzana Zirkova announced her return with 22 points as the hosts prevailed 82-69 in the first meeting, while Sabina Oroszova excelled with 15 points in a tight 81-79 victory in the second encounter.

FIBA