In the second semi-final, Germany, which beat Latvia 81:79 on Wednesday, will face the United States.

Semi-finalists qualify for the Olympics

This set of pairs means that the semi-finalists qualified directly for the Paris Olympic tournament. At the World Championships, seven teams won tickets to the Paris tournament (12 teams): the two highest ranked teams from the Americas and Europe and the best in the final ranking from Asia (Japan), Oceania ( Australia) and Africa. (South Sudan). The eighth team in the Olympic competition is host France, and the final four spots will go to the winners of the Olympic qualifying tournaments (including Poland).

The Canadians’ semi-final, led by Spanish coach Jordi Fernandez Torres (who works daily with the Sacramento Kings), is the greatest success on the international scene since… 1936. Then, the “Maple” team Leaf” won silver at the Berlin Olympics.

Doncic didn’t help with his behavior

The match against Slovenia was fierce and even for two quarters. In the third, which had a huge impact on the fate of the match, the North American basketball players dominated the 2017 European champions in attack. The Slovenians could not stop not only the leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), but also their teammates, and they themselves failed to score from distance.

Lonely and charging towards the basket, Slovenian star Luka Doncić (Dallas Mavericks) also wasted a lot of energy arguing with and complaining to the referees. Ultimately, this attitude gave rise to a second technical foul called in the 33rd minute of the match, which led the Slovenian leader to leave the field.

Canadian leaders showed class

At the end of the third quarter, Canada won 77-61, and in the fourth quarter 92-76, after a three-point basket from Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets). Canadian leader Gilgeous-Alexandre finished the game with 31 points, 10 rebounds and four assists (efficiency index 40), and RJ Barrett of the New York Knicks was close to a double-double – 24 points and nine rebounds.

Among the Slovenians, the most points were scored by: Doncić – 26 points (also four rebounds and five assists) and Klemen Prepelić – 22 (five rebounds).

Slovenia, like Latvia, will play for places 5 to 8. Their first rival on Thursday will be Lithuania. Doncić and his colleagues are the ninth European team with a guaranteed participation in next year’s qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Quarter-final results:

Germany – Latvia 81:79 (1:16 p.m., 11:18 p.m., 26:25 p.m., 7:20 p.m.). Most points: for Germany – Franz Wagner 16 years old, Andreas Obst 13 years old, Moritz Wagner 13 years old, Johannes Thiemann 10; for Latvia – Arturs Żagars 24, Davis Bertans 20, Rolands Smits 14.

Canada – Slovenia 100:89 (26:24, 24:26, 30:21, 20:18). Most points: for Canada – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 31 years old, RJ Barrett 24 years old, Nyckeil Alexander-Walker 14 years old, Dillon Brooks 14 years old; for Slovenia – Luka Doncić 26, Klemen Prepelić 22, Zoran Dragić 10.

World championship program:
Thursday, matches for places 5-8
Italy – Latvia (10:45 a.m.)
Lithuania – Slovenia (2:30 p.m.)
Friday semi-finals:
Serbia – Canada (10:45 a.m.)
Germany – USA (2:40 p.m.)
SATURDAY
match for 5th place
Latvia/Italy – Lithuania/Slovenia
match for 7th place
Latvia/Italy – Lithuania/Slovenia
Sunday
bronze medal match
semi-final losers (10:45 a.m.)
final
winners of the semi-finals (2:40 p.m.)

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/ empe, PAP