Drama victory for Olympic qualification
Fiebich saves women’s basketball historic opportunity
6/24/2023 3:29 p.m
The German basketball players surprisingly secure participation in a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Paris. The national team wins in the placement round against the Czech Republic after extra time and thus continues to fight for the Olympic premiere.
Thanks to Leonie Fiebich, the German basketball players took their chance and booked a ticket for an Olympic qualification tournament at the European Championship. The team of national coach Lisa Thomaidis reached the duel for fifth place in Ljubljana with a 71:69 (63:63, 29:33) after extra time in the first placement game against the Czech Republic, thus participating in one of the four qualifying tournaments for Paris 2024 already sure. The German women have never been to the summer games. Germany traveled to Slovenia as a clear outsider. For the German women it was the first participation in the European Championship in twelve years.
On Sunday (2.15 p.m./free of charge at MagentaSport), the only thing that matters for the team in the last outing at the 39th EuroBasket against Serbia or Montenegro is the final placement. “I have no words for that, only emotions. I’m just incredibly proud of my team. We never thought that we would play for fifth place here and move into the Olympic qualifying tournament,” said the outstanding Fiebich: “But we have here won as a team, not me alone.” Thomaidis, who was moved to tears in the press conference, said: “We’ve worked so long and so hard for this, it’s just wonderful.”
Two days after the quarter-final defeat against four-time European champions Spain (42:67), the German team started with concentration. The defense in particular caused problems for the opponent, Leonie Fiebich and Marie Gülich scored well up front. A double-digit lead was achieved early on (25:15/13th minute), then the break came. Due to a negative run of 4:18, the DBB team fell behind.
Even after the break, the error rate remained too high, the Czech Republic pulled away a bit. The German women around top scorer Fiebich (17 points) braced themselves against the impending defeat, Sonja Greinacher equalized again with a three (55:55/35.). In the final seconds, the DBB team had several opportunities to equalize at a score of 61:63, but failed narrowly in each case. 0.4 seconds were still on the clock when Fiebich sensationally scored 63:63. In overtime it was again Fiebich who made everything clear with two free throws when time was almost up.
A total of 16 teams will take part in the Olympic qualifying tournaments in February, including six from Europe. The top three of each four-person tournament will receive a ticket for Paris, the chances for the German team are not bad.