TUR - Sinan Guler promises his country will satisfy all expectations

ISTANBUL (FIBA World Championship) - With all teams entering the critical phase of their preparations for this summer’s FIBA World Championship, Trukey, who will have to cope with the pressure that goes with playing as hosts in front of a home crowd, are also gearing up for world basketball’s biggest event, which tips off on 28th August.

In a recent interview, Turkey National team player Sinan Güler gave an insight into the current spirit within the camp and explained what the Championship means to his countrymen. "We will do our best and be successful with our performance and the organization in our country" Sinan Güler said, promising that Turkey will organize the event in the best way.

As with most of the other competing teams, preparations have already begun, for Turkey the build up got underway with a national team training camp in Antalya.

"Players who played in different teams got together for the first part of preparations in Antalya. The purpose of this camp was blending of the squad and to warm up before the intense trainings begin." Sinan Güler said.

The next step for the preparations will be in Bormio. "The purpose of training camp in Bormio is to increase physical fitness of the squad. After Bormio we will return to Istanbul and continue the preparation and where we will compete in a preparatory tournament,” he said.

“Then we will compete in the Efes Pilsen World Cup 9 to fine tune our preparations for 2010 FIBA World Championship. We hope that in this preparation period we won't have any injuries." Güler added.

"Hosting FIBA World Championship is important for our country. After organizing the biggest basketball organization the next target for the nation will be hosting Olympic Games. If we organize FIBA World Championship well, that will be a good reference for the Olympic Games. The new arenas are built in Ankara and also in Istanbul. This is great news for Turkish basketball. "

“Most of the squad have professional careers in the Turkish Basketball League. Last year, these players played against each other in the playoff final. In the league there was competition between the players but when we joined the training camp in Antalya, we forgot that competition and began to try to build good ambiance in the team." he concluded.

FIBA/LOC