Another qualification round for the European Women's Basketball Championship has been completed, and for the eighth time in a row, the Montenegrin women's basketball team will be participating in the continental competition.
Yesterday, in the decisive match in Bar, the "Reds" convincingly defeated Luxembourg (86:53) and won first place in the group, ahead of Switzerland and Luxembourg, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which finished the qualifiers without a win.
"We talk every time, with all due respect to everyone, I think it's fascinating. With 18 seniors, 5-6 juniors and players from the U20 national team, we have the opportunity to win Eurobasket. We only have one player who played in the Euroleague, three in the Eurocup, six or seven are from Montenegro, while the others who play abroad do not have a big role in their team. It will not be easy in these two matches, but I certainly believe that we will achieve another result to be proud of," said coach Jelena Škerović ahead of the match.
Even in such a situation, with a small base, our selection achieved great success and made a huge result by simply qualifying for Eurobasket.
"We followed all the girls throughout the season. We had problems with their playing time in clubs, while some unfortunately don't have a club. However, we have to know what our goal is, and that is the European Championship," the coach said recently.
Since the European Championship in Poland in 2011, when it participated in Eurobasket for the first time, Montenegro has become an indispensable part of the European elite. At that time, the team led by Miodrag Baletić won sixth place in Poland, which is the best performance of the women's national team at the European Championships to date. In Poland, the current president of the Federation, Jelena Dubljević, coach Jelena Škerović, and the current captain Milica Jovanović were part of the team. It will also be noted that the best scorer at that championship was Iva Perovanović, who scored an average of 16,4 points. In the end, there was also regret for that championship, because Montenegro recorded all victories in the first phase until the quarterfinals (defeating Spain, Poland and Germany), and then in the second (victories over Latvia, France and Croatia). This was followed by a painful defeat in the quarterfinals against Turkey, which had only three triumphs until that meeting - one in the first and two in the second phase. In the end, Turkey reached the final, for the first time in history.
Our team defeated Lithuania in the playoff for 5th to 8th place, and then lost to Croatia, finishing the competition in sixth place with seven wins and two losses. Russia, which won the title, had an identical score (7-2).
The next championship followed in 2013 in France, when they won 10th place, and in 2015 in Hungary, Montenegro reached seventh position.
Montenegro's worst performance at the European Championships was in 2017 in the Czech Republic, when it suffered all three defeats in a group with Latvia, Russia and Belgium, and took 16th place. And then in 2019 and 2021, our national team achieved one victory each, which was enough for 12th place at both championships.
At the previous championship, held in 2023 in Israel and Slovenia, our team took eighth place. In the group, it defeated Greece and Latvia, was defeated by Spain, and then in a great match in the round of 63, it defeated Italy (49:XNUMX). In the quarterfinals, France was better, but in the playoff for fifth to eighth place, in a match in which victory led to the qualification for the Olympic Games, Montenegro lost to Serbia.
Montenegro started the qualifiers for the upcoming championship with two convincing victories - away against Bosnia and Herzegovina (91:70) and in Herceg Novi against Switzerland (85:61). But the shock came in November last year, when Luxembourg celebrated 71:49 and made the road to another championship more difficult. This was followed by a routine victory in Bar's "Topolica" over Bosnia and Herzegovina (85:52), so two February matches remained to decide everything. And they did not start well, since in Arau, Montenegro lost to Switzerland (55:47). Ahead of the last 40 minutes and the match with Luxembourg, the calculation was clear - a victory by at least 11 points leads directly to Eurobasket, a triumph by 10 points leaves Montenegro a chance to qualify for the championship as one of the four best second-placed teams, while a defeat crushes all dreams.
And in such a situation, our selection probably played the best match in this qualifying cycle. From the first points of the game, scored by Marija Leković, to the points of captain Milica Jovanović, when the team gained an 11-point lead for the first time (13-2), it was clear that no one could stop the "reds" on their way to a new championship. And the amount of desire that reigned in the team, how motivated Montenegro was, is best demonstrated by the fact that our selection had as many as 47 rebounds, 20 of which were offensive. And the rebound, or the fight for every ball, illustrates the approach, but also the desire of a team to achieve victory.
"We showed what we are all about - fighting spirit, team play, good defense and counterattacks. We came in concentrated, we had a slump in the second quarter. However, at halftime we said that we had to stay calm, to take it step by step. The players carried the entire load and deserve congratulations," said coach Jelena Škerović after the match.
When it comes to the younger women's teams, this summer we will only have a junior national team registered, as the youth and cadet national teams will not participate. The juniors won the European Championship B Division last year, and this summer they will play in the A European Championship in a group against Serbia, France and Israel (from July 5 to 13 in La Palma).
As the coach said last night, club commitments follow, and then the draw and preparations for the European Championship, which takes place from June 18 to 29. The draw is scheduled for March XNUMX in Piraeus, which will host Group A. In addition to Greece, the championship will be held in the Czech Republic (Brno), Italy (Bologna) and Germany (Hamburg).
In addition to Montenegro, the four hosts will also participate: Sweden, Turkey, France, Spain, Belgium, Great Britain, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Switzerland.
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