France Seeks London 2012 Spot at Wheelchair Basketball Euros

After finishing second at last year’s World Championships, France’s men’s Wheelchair Basketball team is playing down its chances of success at the 2011 European Championships and is instead concentrating on London 2012 qualification.

From 8-17 September, 12 men’s and seven women’s Wheelchair Basketball teams will compete in Nazareth, Israel, for the European crown. Also up for grabs will be five men’s and three women’s spots for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

After narrowly missing out on qualification for Beijing in 2008, France is determined to get its priorities straight this time around.

“We just expect a spot for London. We don’t expect to be European Champions,” team captain Roger Deda said.

“It is very different to play teams because they know we have a new ranking, but nothing’s changed for us. For the moment, everybody’s picking France for the European Championships. But we will see.

“We are maybe one of the smallest teams in Europe, and maybe even the world, but we have a lot of character.”

Most of the players who missed out on Beijing are still a part of the national team, and head coach Franck Belen hopes the disappointment felt back then will spur his team on to a top-three or four finish in Nazareth.

He expects tough matchups against both Italy and Great Britain – which has automatically qualified for London 2012 as the host nation – and predicts that home nation Israel could be a dark horse.

“I think maybe 10 teams could win the Championships and go to London,” Belen said. “It’s going to be a very tough tournament.”

In preparation for the Championships, France has played in a number of tournaments in recent moths and hosted its national championships in June. Training for Nazareth started in earnest last month.

Should it qualify for London 2012, France’s extended run at last year’s World Championships could serve it well, having garnered some much-needed experience against the world’s top teams.

“They are very big,” Belen said of the Australian team that beat them in last year’s World Championships final. “They have four big players inside, and we have no big players.”

As well as being impressed by the size and speed of the Paralympic champions, Belen also gave a glowing reference to Canada, which was without its best player, Patrick Anderson.

“Honestly, they can win the Paralympic Games without him because they have a lot, a lot of good players,” Belen said.

“But with him, they’re amazing.”

The task now is for France to qualify for London 2012 with or without winning the European Championships.