Sweden's men's national team is chasing a place in the WC 2023. For that to become a reality, victories in both matches during the current gathering, against Estonia tonight and against Israel on Monday - would be required, while Slovenia must lose at least one match.
Now the first of the requirements has been completed.
Sweden won 87-82 away against Estonia this evening.
Estonia came back
But it turned out smoother than it looked.
Sweden got off to a brilliant start, and led by as much as 27–13 after the first period.
But Estonia came back, and early in the fourth period the home team actually led 61–59.
Then, however, Sweden rose again, and with three minutes left, the blue and yellow led 77-66 and the victory was basically secured.
No further match by Sweden
When the final whistle sounded, the scoreboard showed 87-82, and the dream of the WC lives on for Sweden - but not for Estonia.
But it wasn't a high-profile match by Sweden.
- Sweden is not playing a great match, we have to be honest.
They did great in the first period, but then they melt like ice cream on a hot summer day.
Estonia had to take a lot of offensive rebounds and put in simple balls.
But what characterizes a good team is that they win even when they played poorly, and Sweden did that today, says SVT Sports expert Nick Rajacic.