“It was a fight”
Suffering fighter Sabally leads DBB team to Paris
February 12, 2024, 3:42 p.m
Because of pain, Satou Sabally sometimes plays with the wrong throwing hand – and brings the German basketball players to the Olympic Games for the first time in history. Coach Thomaidis thanks her and the whole team with great praise.
Exhausted, scarred, but happy, Satou Sabally opened her hair, then put on the winner’s cap for the final photo after the “brawl” from Belem. “Et Voila!” was written large on it; the German basketball players posed with it for the cameras in front of an oversized boarding pass. But on the way to getting a ticket to Paris, their first ever participation in the Olympics, they had to suffer – especially Sabally.
“Satou was injured, she endured the pain,” national coach Lisa Thomaidis praised her key player after the decisive 73:71 (39:35) against hosts Brazil at MagentaSport, “that made so much difference. When you have players like that, you can achieve a lot.”
Sabally took a beating in the Arena Guilherme Paraense. After sitting out the previous day against Australia, the Berlin native played in the all-or-nothing game with a cuff on her left shoulder and – unlike usual – sometimes threw with her right. If she took her left hand, the pain could be seen on her face. The Brazilians also saw this and specifically attacked the Berliner.
Coach “impressed by this team”
“It was a brawl, it wasn’t nice to watch,” said Leonie Fiebich, who was also the top scorer in the third game and posted a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds – just like Sabally (20/11). “Absolute overflow of emotions,” said Fiebich, “this team finally deserves it. We’ve just been fighting for the last few years.”
After the opening victory over Serbia (73:66) and the lesson against Australia (52:85), the German team could afford a defeat by up to seven points. Brazil worked with all means – permitted and unauthorized. Sabally went to the free throw line 20 times, despite the hardness, kept going to the basket and constantly ended up on the floor, but paved the way to France.
“We made history. My goodness – I’m so impressed with this team,” said Thomaidis. The Canadian took over the DBB selection a good nine months ago and booked the starting place for Belem through sixth place at the European Championships. Now the 52-year-old and her team have reached a milestone.
“DEDEDEDEDEDEDEDE. Olympia, here we come!!!,” wrote Sabally on Instagram. “A dream came true.” Together with her younger sister Nyara, who particularly shone against Serbia, the 25-year-old reached her big goal.
As a result of the coup, the German Basketball Federation (DBB) is represented with at least two teams in Paris, as the men qualified for the gold medal at the 2023 World Cup. And everything is still there in the 3×3.