JWSport Jacek Waszak – Sport journalist
SUCCESS BROUGHT VICTORY IN THE MATCH AGAINST CROATIA. THE WHITE-REDS DEFEATED CROATIA BY 77:69 IN VARAŻDIN AND POLAND BY 85:76 IN THE NETHERLANDS.
The Polish national team only once in its history performed at the World Cup – in 1967 in Uruguay. Then the team led by the famous coach Witold Zagurski took a high fifth place. During this event the Polish National Team won four of the nine matches, and the best scorer of the entire championship was Bohdan Likszo. The second place in this classification was taken by Mieczysław Łopatka – later selected to the top five of the tournament.
At the World Cup in 2019 in China will play 12 best teams from Europe. To get to this event you have to go through two group phases. In the first team took second place, just behind Lithuania. In the second place she is now in third place – the last promotion rewarded. In the tournament will also play five teams from Africa, seven from both Americas seven from Asia, and the host – China.
Croatia – Poland 69:77 (16:8, 20:24, 23:29, 10:16)
Croatia: Kruslin 21, Bilan 10, Perić 10, Katić 8, Planinić 8, Mustapić 6, Junaković 2, Marcinković 2, Vuković 2, Perković 0
Poland: Ponitka 20, Slaughter 15, Sokołowski 12, Waczyński 10, Koszarek 9, Lampe 9, Hrycaniuk 2, Cel 0, Gruszecki 0, Sulima 0, Wyka 0
Poles in the early match defeated the Dutch at departure 105:78, so they were a strong favorite of Monday’s match. The hosts started with a 7:0 lead. They controlled the match calmly, although in the end the guests were looking for their chance. Poles won the last qualifying match, although this time the team leader Maciej Lampe did not play (knee injury).
This is how the Polish National Team defeated in Ergo Arena Poland and the Netherlands wins 85:76 (26:16, 20:20, 20:14, 19:26) in the last match of the World Cup qualifiers 2019. Some white-and-red promotions played calculating basketball. The World Cup will take place in China from 31 August to 15 September.
Before the game in Ergo Arena three players from that team – Andrzej Chmarzyński, Włodzimierz Trams and Mieczysław Łopatka – received commemorative shirts referring to the success of 1967. After winning with the Netherlands, the current team received symbolic tickets to China and occasional shirts.
Before the match, the singer Roksana Węgiel appeared, who won the 16th Eurovision Song Contest for Children in 2018, as well as the programme The Voice Kids and Kamil Bednarek.
Previous World Cups, in which Poles played, were organized in Uruguay. The White and Red Workers took 5th place. Gold was won by the Soviet Union team, silver by Yugoslavia and bronze by Brazil. Fourth place was taken by the Americans Mieczysław Łopatka was chosen for the “five” tournament, which also included Modestas Paulauskas (USSR), Radivoj Korać and Ivo Daneu (Yugoslavia) and Luis Claudio Menon (Brazil). The best competitor of the championship was Daneu.
In the break of the match there was a surprise also the appearance of players from 1967, they were honored, and exactly three players from that team – Andrzej Chmarzyński, Włodzimierz Trams and Mieczysław Łopatka – received commemorative shirts referring to the success of 1967. After winning with the Netherlands, the current team received symbolic tickets to China and occasional T-shirts.
Poland – the Netherlands 85:76. Polish basketball players won the last qualifying match and celebrated their promotion to the World Cup in China.
Poland – The Netherlands 85:76 (26:16, 20:20,20:14, 19:26)
Poland: Waczyński 18, Hrycaniuk 12, AJ Slaughter 9, Gruszecki 8, Ponitka 8, Cel 7, Sokołowski 7, Sulima 7, Koszarek 4, Wyka 3, Łączyński 2.
Other matches: Lithuania – Italy 86:73 (26:16, 21:13, 14:22, 25:22), Hungary – Croatia 84:65 (24:16, 24:17, 18:15, 18:17).
The Chinese World Cup with 32 teams will run from August 31 to September 15. The group draw ceremony will take place on March 16th in Shenzen. The star of the ceremony will be Kobe Bryant.
