ESP - Spain drawn with Brazil, Cuba with Belarus in Olympic Qualifier

MADRID (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women) - Spain are hosting the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women this summer in Madrid yet their passage to the Beijing Games will be anything but easy.

That was assured on Monday in the Spanish capital at the draw for the event.

Five places for China will be up for grabs.

Evaristo Perez's Spanish team, which finished runners-up to Russia at the EuroBasket Women last October in Italy, were on Monday put in Group C along with South American giants Brazil and Oceania representatives Fiji.

The Brazilians are historically one of the powerhouses in the world game and they eliminated Spain at the quarter-final stage of the Athens Olympics.

In Group D, the EuroBasket's bronze-medal winners Belarus will take on Cuba, the side that finished second to the United States at the FIBA Americas Championship, along with Chinese Taipei.

The Czech Republic will be pleased with their draw after landing in Group B with Angola and Argentina, while in Group A, Latvia will be happy as well after being paired with Senegal and Japan - teams they will be expected to beat.

Latvia lost in the bronze-medal game to Belarus at the EuroBasket while the Czechs finished fifth.

The reason why Spain, Brazil, Belarus and Cuba will be somewhat anxious is because the next stage, the quarter-finals, look extremely difficult.

The format of the tournament places the team that finishes first in Group C against the second-placed team in Group D in one quarter-final, with the second-placed team from Group C against the Group D winners as another quarter showdown.

If, as expected, Brazil and Spain take the top two spots in Group C, their quarter-final opponents are likely to be Belarus or Cuba.

The winners of the the quarter-finals qualify for the Olympics.

The quarter-final losers will drop into a pool of four teams that will play in semi-finals and a final for the one remaining Olympic place.

Quick Facts:

Groups:

Group A: Japan, Latvia, Senegal
Group B: Angola, Argentina, Czech Republic
Group C: Brazil, Fiji, Spain
Group D: Belarus, Chinese Taipei, Cuba

System of Competition & Schedule:

PRELIMINARY ROUND
9th June 2008
Game A1: Latvia v Senegal
Game B1: Czech Republic v Argentina
Game C1: Spain v Fiji
Game D1: Chinese Taipei v Cuba

10th June 2008
Game A2: Senegal  v  Japan
Game B2: Argentina v Angola
Game C2: Fiji v Brazil
Game D2: Cuba v Belarus
 
11th June 2008
Game A3: Japan v Latvia
Game B3: Angola v Czech Republic
Game C3: Brazil v Spain
Game D3: Belarus v Chinese Taipei

The two (2) best placed teams from each group will qualify for the Quarter-Finals.
The teams placed third in each group are eliminated and may return home.

12th June 2008 
Day Off

QUARTER-FINALS
13th June 2008
Game 13: A1 v B2
Game 14: B1 v A2
Game 15: C1 v D2
Game 16: D1 v C2

The four (4) winners will qualify for the Olympic Games and may return home. The four (4) losers will play in the Semi-Finals.

SEMI-FINALS
14th June 2008
Game 17: Loser 13 v Loser 15
Game 18: Loser 14 v Loser 16

FINAL
15th June 2008
Game 19: Winner 17 v Winner 18

The winner will qualify for the Olympic Games.

FIBA