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The preliminary rounds of IWBF Europe’s European club competition took place over two days, Friday 8th and Saturday 9th March, across venues in Europe. Split across three leagues, 35 teams from 16 countries competed for a place in one of the three EuroLeague Finals that will take place at the end of April.
EUROLEAGUE 1 PRELIMINARY ROUNDS 2019
In Group A of EuroLeague 1, hosts Interwetten-Coloplast Sitting Bulls could not replicate their success of 2018, gaining only one win from three and finishing bottom of the group. It was Turkish side TSK Rehab Merkezi Engelliler SK who topped the group with three wins and one defeat. Despite being drawn on points with Italy’s SSD Santa Lucia, they secured their place in the EuroLeague 1 Finals, thanks to a three-point win over the Italians, 57-54, which meant Santa Lucia had to settle for a place at the EuroLeague 2 Finals in Porto Potenza. It was fellow Italian team ASD Handicap Sport Varese who claimed the final qualification spot an head to Vigo, Spain to EuroLeague 3 Finals, with two wins against TSK Rehab Merkezi Engelliler SK and BasKI TOP.
The winners of Group B was also decided on a head to head between Germany’s RBC Koln 99ers and Italy’s Padova Millennium Basket, as they finished the round with 3 wins and 1 loss each, the 99ers claimed the top spot and a place in the EuroLeague 1 Finals in Sheffield thanks to 80-41 win over the Italians. Second place sees Padova have a short trip to their Italian counterparts Santa Stefano for EuroLeague 2 Finals. Third place was also decided on a head to head and with only one point in it, Great Britain’s London Titans edged out host Pilatus Dragons, 61-60, for the final qualification spot.
Scores from the EuroLeague 1 Preliminary Round
EuroLeague 2 Preliminary Rounds 2019
Spain’s Mideba Extremadura stormed through Group A of the EuroLeague 2 preliminary round heading to the EuroLeague 2 Finals in Porto Potenza undefeated. Turkey’s Izmir BSB finished second, with only one loss at the hands of Mideba, and ensured their place at the EuroLeague 3 Finals.
Hosts KKI VRBAS Banja Luka topped Group B in the preliminary round of EuroLeague 2, after defeating second-placed Beit-Halochem Tel Aviv, 84-76, to secure top spot and a place at the EuroLeague 2 Finals in Porto Potenza, Italy. Whilst Israel’s Beit-Halochem Tel Aviv settled for a place at the EuroLeague 3 Finals in Vigo, Spain.
Scores from the EuroLeague 2 Preliminary Round
EuroLeague 3 Preliminary Rounds 2019
In the EuroLeague 3 preliminary rounds, it was do or die for all teams with only the top placed team progressing through to the EuroLeague 3 Finals in Vigo, Spain. Austria’s RBB Flinkstones, Turkey’s 1907 Fenerbahçe EYSK and Gazişehir Gaziantep Sport Club all proved the strongest to win all of their games and finish top of their respective pools.
Scores from the EuroLeague 3 Preliminary Round
More information and to find out which clubs have made the Euro League Finals:
