Spain defeats Hungary and reaches the Eurobasket final

Spain He is right back in the fight for medals in Eurobasketball women (69-60) after the victory over Hungary, the big surprise of the championship. In a match that was dominated from start to finish by players trained by Miguel Méndez, the Hungarian muscle led the war until the last bars with a team led by the inflammable Alba Torrens, who with 27 points signed the passage to the grand final and the possibility of winning the fifth continental crown. Almost always competitive at major competitions, the Spanish women missed out on the last World Cup in 2022 but will be in contention tomorrow (8:00 p.m., La 2 and RTVE Play) against Belgium, the big favorite, who defeated France 67-63 last night. In Ljubljana, Méndez’s students beat a team of great physical strength in the racket and successfully resisted the physical superiority of the tallest player of the tournament, Hatara (208 centimeters).

Alba Torrens, experienced in a thousand battles, started the performance with a three-pointer with which she opened the game and threw the team behind her. 2015). The one from Valencia Basket scored the first ten points for the Spanish team, in a clear display of gallantry in a team that has a great generational mix on the track, with a group that gathers veterans from the previous phase like Cristina Ouviña, Laura Kuće Gil or Queralt; with another group of future players starting to break through like Galicians Rachel Carrera or Paula Ginzo.

Defense once again seemed to be the key to knocking out the girls led by Norbert Szekely, who easily dominated the so-called group of death in this competition. The first quarter ended with strong and fast Spain dominating the score (18-14), but with Hatar, the ceiling of this Eurobasket, who greatly intimidated the Spaniards in his breakthroughs.

In the second quarter, Laura Gil arrives on time and increases Spain’s lead. Six points for Perfumerías Avenida that forced Hungary to ask for a time-out to get some air. Méndez’s girls pressed, and Ginzo appeared, inspired by overtime, along with the towering Torrens, who added another three-pointer on which Maite Cazorla put the maximum income to end the duel from twelve away. The Spanish defense stifled the Hungarian attack and the team returned shots. Alba, Spain’s big star, hit his fourth hat-trick in four attempts and Cazorla responded. Spain liked each other and left electronically. Ágnes Studer answered the attacks, and Goree threatened in attack.

The third quarter looked silly for the national interests, who saw the Szekelys close the stretch with just four points. Kanyasi scored from three and Leo Rodríguez missed his free kicks. Hatar did his thing and the pressure was there (50-46). It was a cloudy afternoon for Spain, who became the downfall, although luckily it wasn’t too good in Hungary either. And then Alba Torrens had to reappear to lead the way. The one from Binissalem saved Spain from disaster and signed a passage to the grand final. Back in the elite of women’s basketball.