ANKARA (FIBA World Championship for Women) - Turkish national team coach Ceyhun Yildizoglu has proclaimed the electrifying Birsel Vardarli as the best playmaker in Europe as the build-up to the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women continues to gather momentum.

The guard remains very much the darling of Turkish fans and according to Yildizoglu, that's unsurprising considering her contributions at the elite level.

"With her ability to play and successfully manage both the offensive and defensive parts of the game, Vardarli has been the most important point guard in our country and Europe during recent years," declared the play-caller.

"Both on the national team and for her club, the success that she has achieved is the biggest indicator that she continues to improve."

Few would argue she is one of the best backcourt players on the continent, having taken her team to back-to-back podium success at EuroBasket Women tournaments.

She produced the goods most memorably three years ago in Poland en route to silver, weaving some sensational plays through a classic Semi-Final against defending champions France.

Last year, she helped Turkey take a bronze medal and also helped club side Fenerbahce to the Final of the EuroLeague Women Final Eight - contributions which have led to her being shortlisted for the FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year award.

"The nomination is a great source of pride," said Vardarli.

"For three years, I've made important contributions to my club team and the national team in Europe. My nomination for this award is the result of this.

"Generally, I'm a player that likes to get the team involved, but in some matches I had a different focus, because the team needed me more."

When she was a kid in her native city of Izmir, Vardarli was almost lost to football or martial arts, but fortunately for lovers of the women's game, she eventually opted to play some hoops and she was bitten by the basketball love bug.

"From the moment I began playing basketball I took a huge interest in it," she recalled.

"I was constantly following foreign leagues and trying to mirror what I saw in my own game.

"When I was in Izmir one day, my coach said to me, 'You will be the national team's guard', but that seemed such a long way off."

Way back in 2005, Turkey both hosted and participated in its first EuroBasket Women tournament as the 20-year-old chose a historical time to make her major tournament debut.

Since then, history has come hand-in-hand with her dazzling skills. From her country delivering a first-ever medal, to a landmark Olympic appearance and now almost coming full circle in hosting and playing at a first-ever FIBA World Championship for Women.

Alongside her all the way has been the other player who sprinkles star dust around the Turkish national team and that is captain and former Fenerbahce team-mate Nevriye Yilmaz.

"Birsel is a very talented player," reiterated the forward.

"She is one the most important and unchangeable parts on the national team."

The duo will spearhead the challenge of the host nation and Vardarli herself is banking on meeting expectations.

"In 2011 we were second in Europe and then we made our Olympic dreams come true," she recalled. "But we're not satisfied with these successes. Now we have big goals for the FIBA World Championship."

However, before she can even begin to think about getting the Turkish national team fans off their seats in appreciation of her exhilarating play, she will continue trying to propel Fenerbahce to yet more silverware.

As the team leader, Vardarli has won six straight Turkish women's basketball league titles and is currently in the capital trying to add a Turkish Cup to her impressive collection of medals.

Win or lose in Ankara with her club team and win or lose when the action starts for her country in September, there is always one guarantee with Vardarli. You can count on her to deliver some of the most memorable moments and plays of any tournament and that is exactly why she remains so popular and such an asset to the women’s game.

FIBA