Basketball

The total of 171 players from 11 teams will take part in the basketball tournament, which makes it one of the biggest sports of the 2009 Global Games. However, you will not find the Czech team in the draw as it failed to qualify for the main tournament.

Russia and Portugal are the main favorites for gold in the men's tournament. Nevertheless, there are not that many differences in quality among the top teams, and the finals will surely be thrilling. Greece, the winners of the last major event before the Global Games, the 2009 World Cup, have a big chance of winning, too. The matches of the men's tournament will compete for the medals in the Liberec Tipsport arena.

The Russians, as the defendants of gold from the 2004 Global Games in Sweden and the winners of every major event since then, remain the clear favorite for gold in the women's tournament. The regular opponents of the Russians in the final are the Australians, and Mexican players surely have their eyes set on one of the medals, too. Six teams will play in the Jablonec CORNY sports hall, with ten teams in the draw.

One of the surprises of the tournaments is the absence of the Polish men's and women's teams who have shown the performance needed to contend for one of the medals.

Basketball schedule