Jakarta (dpa) – French basketball players exited the preliminary round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Asia in a sensational fashion.
The team made up of NBA center Rudy Gobert lost in Jakarta 86:88 (53:49) to Latvia and, after two losses from two games, has to say goodbye to all title dreams. Prior to that, she had scored 65:95 against favored Canada at the start of the World Cup. Canada with Shay Gilgos-Alexander and Latvia, which lacks its best professional Christaps Porzingis, qualified for the second round.
“They kicked our ass”
Winger Yvan Fournier was already frustrated after the first defeat. “They kicked our ass,” he said of his 30-point bat against Canada. The match against Latvia was considered a must-win, because France is second in the Olympics and European Championships. And at the last two World Championships in Spain in 2014 and in China in 2019, there was also a bronze medal. Behind the USA, the French became the second biggest contender for the title.
The premature end is reminiscent of what happened in Germany four years ago. The team led by Dennis Schroeder lost the first game to a favorite (France), then suffered an unimaginable defeat against an outsider (Dominican Republic). In contrast to France, Germany has already secured a second-round ticket after two wins this year.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230827-99-980075/2
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