Lithuania defeated Spain; Australia struggled; Slovenia registered history – U17 World Cup Day 1
Lithuania defeated Spain; Australia struggled; Slovenia registered history – U17 World Cup Day 1. The opening day of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 is signifying the advent of some amazing fun in Malaga. Lithuania ended Saturday’s game by defeating Spain. Other than that, France turned it upside down with Serbia. Slovenia registered history while Australia prevailed after facing tough times.
Lithuania Puts Spain’s Game To End
Lithuania proved to be quite dominating on the beginning day of the U17 World Cup. The hosts registered a win of 71-68 over guests in Spain to rule Group B in the last game. Earlier, facing defeat from Spain in a friendly game, Lithuania fended off the Spain attacks to convert it into their win.
Coach Remigijus Bardauskas said,” It is a great win for us and I am proud of the players. Winning right after losing the previous game by 30 points fills us with confidence.”
It seems Spain doesn’t possess a good history with Lithuania, since they faced the earlier defeat in the 2016 U17 World Cup in Zaragoza.
Slovenia Registers History
In U17 World Cup history, Slovenia defeated Mali even after being the debutant. Jane Vide came to discuss the special moment as well. He finds it amazing about the crucial and competitive game.
He presumed that the first half would be easier to deal with, but there was a fight till the end. He further added that Doncic and co. might be watching and supporting them.
France secured an early win
France seems too early as they would be the first ones to tumble around. But, later on, they made a sweeping win with surprising figures of 81-68 against Serbia. After 10 minutes of the game, France lagged behind 13-2 and trailed 26-13. On the other hand, Les Bleus came to a response with a 14-2 run in the second quarter and 15-1 in the third game. Noah Penda excels on the path with 13 more points.
Australia, the two-times runner up, required 14-1 runs in the last minutes of the game. Rocco Zikarsky led with 19 points and 4 blocks to deliver the competition in the match. The head coach of Australia Justin Schueller came ahead with the praises of Zikarsky that he was quite outstanding throughout the game and set the pathway.
He also mentioned that Zikarsky had a plan all along and his efforts were commendable. The Australians started small and managed the game afterward. He is having the maximum impact in this entire tournament.