All six teams went into the final day of 2019 Women’s European Championship preliminary stage with something to play for.

In the opening game, Germany and Great Britain matched-up in a dual for second spot in the group. It was a close first quarter as Great Britain won it by two points, 15-13, but the second belonged to Germany, 20-12, giving them a six-point advantage at the break, 33-27.

Momentum stuck with the Germans in the third quarter as they built on their lead to head into the final ten minutes with a fourteen-point buffer. Great Britain fought back and won the final quarter 11-10, but the shooting prowess of Mareike Miller and Katharina Lang proved to be the difference for Germany, as they shot 52% from the floor compared to GB’s 34%, giving them the win, 61-48. Full Statistics.

Germany take on Great Britain at the 2019 Women’s European Championship. Photo credit – Steffie Wunderl

The second game of the day was an important game for Spain, as a win against Turkey meant they would not only make the semi-finals of the European Championship for the second time in their history, but also qualify for the Paralympic Games for the first time in their own right.

It was a tentative first half from Spain as you could sense they felt the enormity of the game. They managed to close out the first quarter with a 14-5 score-line, but then boosted by the noisy Turkish fans, Turkey nearly matched Spain in the second quarter losing it by just two points, 8-10, ensuring Spain’s advantage was eleven at half-time, 24-13.

Spain’s confidence grew in the second half as they could sense the victory was in touching distance, and looking more relaxed, they won the third convincingly 27-9, and the fourth 19-11, to finish the game with a final score of 70-33 and a top four finish.

Vicky Perez led all scorers with 24 points and 11 rebounds, with Turkey’s Mine Ercan next with 13 points. Full Statistics.

Netherlands versus France at the 2019 Women’s European Championship. Photo credit – Steffie Wunderl.

The Netherlands made it a clean sweep in the group stage with a 72-34 win over France maintaining their unbeaten record.

France held their own against the World Champions for the majority of the opening quarter, keeping within two with four minutes remaining, but a seven-point unanswered run at the end of the first widened the gap and gave the hosts a 19-10 lead. Both the Netherlands and France rotated the line-ups throughout the second quarter, as the teams exchanged baskets, but it was the Netherlands who edged ahead, 15-12, to give themselves a twelve-point lead at half-time.

In the second half France ran out of steam as the Netherlands showed the talent across their squad winning both quarters, 19-8 and 19-4, to secure victory and head into the semi-finals as the top team from the preliminary stage. Full Statistics.

In a re-run of the 2018 World Championship semi-final, Germany and Great Britain will meet in the first semi-final at 13.00 on Saturday (6 July), whilst the Netherlands will face Spain in the other semi-final at 16.00.

France and Turkey will play-off against each other in the 5-6^th place classification game on Sunday (7 July) at 10.00.

The championship is zonal qualification tournament for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, and the top four have also ensured a ticket to Tokyo next year.