German basketball players are taking a big step towards the Olympics

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Satou Sabally (l.) wants to lead Germany to the Olympics

Photo: Marx Vasconcelos/dpa

Germany's basketball players got off to a perfect start in the Olympic qualification tournament. The team led by WNBA star Satou Sabally surprisingly won against two-time European champions Serbia 73:66 (36:21) in Belém, Brazil, taking a big step towards the Olympics in Paris. So far, German basketball players have never qualified for the summer games.

After the rest day on Friday, Germany continues against top favorite Australia on Saturday (9 p.m., TV: Magentasport). The last opponent on Sunday will be hosts Brazil. The first three teams in the group of four qualify for the Summer Games in Paris, so one win could be enough to qualify. Participation in the qualification tournament is already a great success for the selection of the German Basketball Federation (DBB).

»That was a big win for our team. Our players were great fighters,” said national coach Lisa Thomaidis. She is “extremely proud of the team.”

The best German throwers were Leonie Fiebich with 20 points and Satou Sabally with 18 points. Her younger sister Nyara Sabally shone with 14 points and 17 rebounds. “We played the Eurobasket, but this is something completely different,” said Fiebich. »This is all new for us. Nobody has been in such a situation. We were all a bit nervous before the game," Fiebich continued, "when it got tight, we continued to believe in our plan. That was a big victory for the development of our team.«

Fiebich and Sabally form the top German duo

Germany got off to a perfect start and quickly moved ahead to 11:1. Although the favored Serbians improved afterwards, the German team still went into the second quarter with a seven-point lead. There, Germany continued to pull away and was, quite surprisingly, 15 points ahead at the break (36:21).

After the break, Thomaidis' team took a short break. Serbia started with seven points in a row and was back in the game. Although Germany held up well, Serbia still took the lead for the first time five minutes before the end in the final quarter (56:55). But in the decisive phase, Leonie Fiebich and Satou Sabally took command and secured the important success.

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