PR N°25 - Official website of the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women launched

GENEVA/BANGKOK (FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) - FIBA, in cooperation with the Basketball Association of Thailand, would like to announce the launching of thailand2009.fiba.com, the official website for the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women that will take place in Bangkok (Thailand) from 23rd July to 2nd August 2009.

thailand2009.fiba.com includes all-event related information on the world's most prestigious basketball youth championship for women and will feature, during the competition itself, live results and stats of all games, game reports and previews, hundreds of action photos, interviews and blogs.

The 8th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women, a tournament featuring 16 teams comprised of players born in 1990 or after, will be played in the Bangkok Thai-Japan Youth Center located in Thailand's capital. The Bangkok Thai-Japan Youth Center is a sports complex which features two basketball arenas within 150 meters' distance from each other.

FIBA U19 World Championship for Women - Event outline

As of 2007, the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women is staged every two years, in odd years. The 1st FIBA U19 World Championship for Women was played in 1985 in Colorado Springs (USA).

In the previous seven editions of this tournament, the USA won the gold medal three times (1997, 2005 and 2007), the Soviet Union twice (1985 and 1989), whereas Australia (1993) and the Czech Republic (2001) each secured the title once.

Some of the biggest stars of the game made their international debut in this championship: Janeth Arcain (Brazil), Margo Dydek (Poland), Lauren Jackson (Australia), Ilona Korstine (Russia), Lisa Leslie (USA) and Michele Timms (Australia), just to name a few.

About FIBA

FIBA (www.fiba.basketball), the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Its main upcoming events are the 2010 FIBA World Championships for Men and Women, to take place in Turkey and in the Czech Republic respectively. This summer, the 2009 Continental Championships will determine the champions of each continent and will also determine the number of teams from each continent that qualify for Turkey and the Czech Republic.