Great Britain Women – EuroBasket 2021 qualification
The GB women’s roster for November’s single EuroBasket Women qualifier against Poland sees three starters missing from the team that went to the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Belgrade in February.
Olympians Rachael Vanderwal, who has had knee surgery, and Johannah Leedham-Warner, who is expecting her first child, will miss the trip to Turkey, along with Karlie Samuelson, who is unavailable.
Two new additions to the squad are Australian-born Samantha Roscoe, who played recently for Manchester Mystics, and Evelyn Adebayo.
Eilidh Simpson, who missed out on February’s games due to injury, returns to the team for the first time since last November’s game against Poland, when she top-scored for the team. Sevenoaks Suns guard Renee Busch, who made her international debut in 2013, also returns.
Squad: Evelyn Adebayo (Pacisa Alcobendas -Spa, age 23, caps 0), Kristine Anigwe (CBK Mersin -Tur, 23, 3), Renee Busch (Sevenoaks, 27, 4), Chantel Charles (London Lions, 26, 5), Temi Fagbenle (Venezia -Ita 28, 64), Nicolette Fong (Manchester, 28, 13), Cheridene Green (Gorzow -Pol, 25, 18), Chantelle Handy (Zaragoza -Spa, 33, 132), Georgia Jones (Manchester, 30, 73), Janice Monakana (Sevenoaks, 25, 20), Samantha Roscoe (Gottingen -Ger, 25, 0), Hannah Shaw (Manchester, 30, 23), Eilidh Simpson (Halle -Ger, 28, 47).
Having come agonisingly close to qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, GB will have their work cut out to qualify for the next EuroBasket tournament.
Drawn in a three-team group with Poland and Belarus, two of their four games were played in November last year.
Although they won convincingly in Poland, the heavy home defeat against Belarus means the guaranteed qualifying place for the group winners may be beyond them. They have to be among the best five second-placed teams across the nine groups to reach the finals in France and Spain.
The two remaining games will take place in November this year and February 2021.
EuroBasket 2021 qualifying fixtures
14 November 2020: v Poland (Istanbul, 18:00 GMT)
4 February 2021: v Belarus (A)
Results so far:
Poland 63-75 Great Britain (Walbrzych)
Great Britain 59-90 Belarus (Manchester)
| Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 124 | 153 | 3 |
| Belarus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 90 | 59 | 2 |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 75 | 1 |
Great Britain men – EuroBasket 2022 pre-qualifying
Great Britain’s men won one and lost one of their first two games in the main EuroBasket 2021 qualifying tournament.
After defeat in Montenegro, they beat Germany in Newcastle to stay in contention in what could be a tight group.
GB’s next scheduled games come in November this year and they should both have been at home, but the coronavirus epidemic has forced governing body Fiba to chance the format.
GB are scheduled to travel to Pau, France, to take on France and Montenegro in their next two scheduled qualifiers at the end of November.
The final two games of the group, scheduled for February 2021, are due to be away games in Germany and France.
The top two teams in Great Britain’s group – other than final co-hosts Germany – will qualify for the Finals, which will be held in Germany, the Czech Republic, Georgia and Italy in 2022, having been put back by a year to avoid a clash with the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games.
Men’s EuroBasket 2021 qualifying fixtures
21 February 2020: Montenegro 81-74 Great Britain (Podgorica)
24 February 2020: Great Britain 81-73 Germany (Newcastle)
27 November 2020: France v Great Britain (Pau, time TBA)
29 November 2020: Great Britain v Montenegro (Pau, time TBA)
19 February 2021: Germany v Great Britain (venue, time TBA)
22 February 2021: France v Great Britain (venue, time TBA)
| Germany | 2 | 1 | 1 | 156 | 150 | 3 | +6 |
| France | 2 | 1 | 1 | 154 | 149 | 3 | +5 |
| Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 155 | 154 | 3 | +1 |
| Montenegro | 2 | 1 | 1 | 147 | 159 | 3 | -12 |
