Serbia's players celebrate victory against Great Britain after their Group I 2nd round match of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 27, 2023. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)
BELGRADE, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Serbia qualified for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup after defeating Britain 101-83 on Monday in Belgrade.
By defeating the guests at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, the Serbian team secured third place in Group I, behind Latvia and Greece to qualify for the final phase of the FIBA World Cup.
Team Serbia, which ranked ninth at the recently held Eurobasket, dominated with an outstanding 63.6% field goal percentage (50% behind the arc).
The home team was spearheaded by Aleksa Avramovic who scored 20 points, followed by Luka Mitrovic's 15, Ognjen Dobric's 14, while Marko Guduric added 13 and dished six assists.
Britain ended in the last position in the group after the match, as Quinn Ellis took 22 points and Carl Wheatle scored 16.
After a tight defeat in the previous round in Greece, Serbia needed victory in the last round in order to secure their qualification.
Besides Britain, which won only one out of nine matches in the group stage, Belgium and Türkiye will also miss the 2023 FIBA World Cup to be co-hosted this summer by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. ■
Great Britain's Amin Adamu (front, R) vies with Serbia's Stefan Jovic (front, C) during their Group I 2nd round match of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 27, 2023. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)
Serbia's Luka Mitrovic (L) and Filip Petrusev celebrate during the Group I 2nd round match of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers against Great Britain in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 27, 2023. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)
Serbia's Marko Guduric (L) vies with Great Britain's Carl Wheatle (C) during their Group I 2nd round match of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 27, 2023. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)
Great Britain's head coach Marc Steutel reacts during the Group I 2nd round match of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers between Serbia and Great Britain in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 27, 2023. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)
Serbia's Marko Guduric (front, R) vies with Great Britain's Carl Wheatle (front, L) during their Group I 2nd round match of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 27, 2023. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)
