Turkey - Turkey happy with FIBA 2010 World Championship draw

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FIBA Sports Director and former basketball star Lubomir Kotleba holds up a slip of paper carrying the name 'Turkey' during the 2010 FIBA World Championship draw in Istanbul.

FIBA Sports Director and former basketball star Lubomir Kotleba holds up a slip of paper carrying the name 'Turkey' during the 2010 FIBA World Championship draw in Istanbul.

Preparations for the 2010 World Basketball Championships moved to their final stage when the draw for the groups was made in Istanbul on Tuesday.

Host country Turkey was drawn into Group C along with Greece, Russia, Puerto Rico, China and Ivory Coast. The group brings together teams at similar levels, and Turkish officials were mostly happy with the draw.

Argentina joined Serbia, Australia, Germany, Angola and Jordan in Group A of the event. This group of teams will play in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri.

Group B will be the most political group of the tournament. Iran will try to beat the odds against Olympic champion and foe the United States. The two are joined in Istanbul by Slovenia, Brazil, Croatia and Tunisia.

The final group, Group D, brings together European champion Spain with France, Canada, Latvia, New Zealand and Lebanon in the Aegean city of I.zmir.

The 24 teams in the men's tournament were drawn into four groups of six, with the top four from each advancing to the knockout round.

Turkey, as the host country, had the option to choose where it wanted play the group games, and the Turkish Basketball Federation, or TBF, preferred to play in the capital city of Ankara.

The opening game will be played between Turkey and Ivory Coast on Aug. 28.

The game against Greece, scheduled to be played on Aug. 31, will be the highlight of Group C.

Harun Erdenay, the Turkish national team’s general manager, said he was happy to see Greece in the group. “We lost to the Greeks in September in the quarterfinals of the European Championship; now we have our chance for a rematch,” he said.

According to Erdenay, Turkey could have faced tougher rivals in its group. “We did not get Latvia, which we usually have problems against, or Tony Parker and France. Puerto Rico is a very good team and I would love to see Canada in our group, but still, we have a great chance of finishing first.”

Erdenay recalled that Turkey finished sixth at the 2006 world championships. “And do not forget, we lost in the final of the 2001 European Championship, hosted in Turkey,” he said. “We will raise the bar in 2010 with the help of home court advantage.”

TBF President Turgay Demirel said Turkey should finish first in its group to make things easier in further rounds. “When you finish at the top of the group, you get the chance to take on less stronger teams in knockout rounds,” he said. “If our players can be healthy and ready for the tournament, they have the capacity to do that.”

Demirel also noted the importance of such a major event to Turkey. “The draw was the first step of the final preparations,” said the president. “FIBA 2010 is the biggest event Turkey will host, and we are determined to make it the best-ever world championship. We have the chance to write a success story, both as the organizer and on the court.”

Demirel repeated that all venues will be ready by the end of March. “We will play some playoff games and cup finals at the new venues,” he said. “There is no need to worry; we will be ready.”

US, Iran to clash in Istanbul on Peace Day

Iran will try to make the biggest surprise of the tournament when it takes on the United States in Istanbul’s Abdi I.pekçi Arena. The game between the two long-time foes will be ironically played on Sept. 1, International Day of Peace.

The United States and Iran, which have been political enemies for decades and are currently at odds over Tehran's nuclear program, have never met before in a top level men's or women's FIBA competition.

Demirel said the game will be a chance to show that basketball can be a promoter for peace. Erdenay, on the other hand, was much more realistic.

“I think that the Iranian players are happy with the draw, he said. “They will have the chance of playing against NBA superstars, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for many.”

Organizers also revealed the mascot for the event: a Van cat, a distinctive breed of domestic cat that is found mainly in the eastern city. Van cats are large, all white, and often have different colored eyes.

The name of the mascot will be chosen with online voting on the tournament’s official Web site.