Playoffs begin at Wheelchair Basketball Euros

The group stages of the 2017 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Tenerife have wrapped up. Semi-finals for the women’s will begin Wednesday (28 June), while the men’s quarter finals will also tip off.

Women’s tournament

France, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands will look to play for the final two spots for the gold medal game.

Germany finished atop the pool stages, after defeating an unbeaten Netherlands, 61-55, in their last game of the preliminary rounds led by Mareike Miller with 42 points. The loss consigned the Netherlands to second place in the pool and a match up against Great Britain, who finished third with three wins and two losses.

Germany will meet France, who claimed the fourth spot after defeating hosts Spain, 56-50. The semifinals sees the same past four teams at the European Championships since 2009.

Spain will meet Turkey, who have yet to win a game, in the classification game for fifth and sixth place in the Championships.

Men’s tournament

Both men’s groups had table topping matches on the last day of the preliminary round. In Group A, the Netherlands who defeated hosts Spain in a nail-biter 60-54, topped the table on a head-to-head. This sets them up for a crossover against Israel, who finished fourth in Group B, while Spain will meet third placed in Group B Germany.

The top of the table decider in Group B was between old rivals Turkey and three-time European champion Great Britain, who last met in an overtime-thriller at the Rio 2016 Paralympic bronze medal game. In a hard-fought match, Turkey came out on top, winning 71-60 and finishing unbeaten in the group, to crossover against fourth in Group A, Italy. Runner-up of Group B, Great Britain will face Poland, who finished third in Group A.

For the countries finishing outside the top four in each pool, there will be crossovers for classification and to avoid relegation into the European Championships Division B. France will be up against Lithuania, while Sweden will play Switzerland.

More information can be found on the event website.