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Basketball: Beaten by Ukraine, Switzerland no longer has its destiny in hand
The male selection finished the 2nd round of pre-qualifications for the 2027 World Cup with a defeat against Ukraine (73-64).
There was undoubtedly the place to do much better for this male Swiss team on Saturday in Riga (Latvia) against Ukraine, on the occasion of its last match of the 2nd round of pre-qualifications for the 2027 World Cup.
Yes but here it is, the men of Ilias Papatheodorou attacked this capital meeting with the head upside down: clumsy in attack, not aggressive enough in defense, the Helvetians were walked on it during a first quarter which ended on the score of 28-12 for Ukraine.
Selim Fofana in a less brilliant day, it is the young Jamal George, the brother of the player NBA Kyshawn, who actively participated in the recovery of the selection. With 11 points in 20 minutes, the player of the Pully Lausanne Foxes showed that he would have to count on him in the future.
Led 41-31 at halftime, Switzerland has never really managed to put itself in the position to pick up, except on a 3-point shot from Granvorka (46-43). We almost regret that the winger, 15 points in 24 minutes against Slovakia in Winterthour, did not play more than 9 minutes on Saturday …
Beaten 73-64, Switzerland must now wait for the Slovakia – Ukraine on Wednesday. If Ukraine is essential, it will compete in qualifications for the World Cup. If it is Slovakia, all the groups of the group will have 2 victories and 2 defeats. And it will then be necessary to take out the calculates.