2018 FIBA Women's World Cup Draw Reaction
Image: FIBA.com
With seven months still to go before the first tip off of the next edition of the premier competition for international women's basketball, the sixteen qualified teams have now learned the paths they will have to tread on the road to World Cup victory.
The 2018 Women's World Cup will be held in Spain, and the draw took place mid-day on Tuesday in San Cristobal de la Laguna. It's impossible to know for sure how everything will unfold come September-time, but with everything now set, it paints a very intriguing and exciting picture of what the final tournament should be like.
Hosts Spain were drawn in Group C, and already have a tough path ahead of them. For starters, they face one of the most feared and powerful teams at the moment in Belgium, a team whose has seen their form completely change with the arrival of star centre Emma Meesseman, who lifted them to their best EuroBasket performance and was herself named to the all-tournament team.
Also looking to cause problems for the hosts in Group C are Japan and World Cup newcomers Puerto Rico. Neither of these teams will be there by accident - Japan were exceptional and worthy winners of last year’s Asian Cup, while Puerto Rico, to qualify for their first World Cup, did very well in a group that included Cuba and a Paraguayan team who had the AmeriCup’s top scorer, Paola Ferrari, and comfortably and emphatically dispatching Brazil for the bronze medal.
Experience is going to count in Group C, as will mentality, power and skill, which, admittedly, some of these teams have more than others. Yet given how many teams in this group have pulled off upsets in the past year, there's every chance it could happen again.
USA qualified for the tournament having won their sixth successive Olympic tournament. They are, of course, the the most dominant force in world basketball, with the largest talent pool to draw from which includes the world’s most naturally talented players.
If that wasn’t enough, the draw has done them plenty of favours in their quest to take home a tenth world title. They will be in Group D, facing China and Senegal - who they both met last in Rio, and made short work of both - and Latvia, making their World Cup debut. None of them bad teams at all, but at first glance they don't appear to be much of contest for the Americans.
China are dependable as ever and have a powerful front court, and though Senegal missed the 2014 edition, they are currently in top form and poised and ready to do well in Spain. Though Latvia did well to qualify, it’s hard to know how they will fare against unfamiliar opponents and on this stage that's completely new to them. If they are on the same, unsung form they were in last year’s EuroBasket, the non-American portion of Group D could become very interesting.
Nigeria are the longest absentees from the tournament, playing for the first time since 2006, and find themselves in an interesting Group B headed by Australia. The Opals will still be licking their wounds after their loss in the Asian Cup final to Japan, but if they come to Spain at full strength they have a great chance of making up for it with even bigger success.
Turkey are likely to give them their toughest matchup in the battle for Group B supremacy, as they remain one of the fiercest forces in european and world basketball. Propping up the group is Argentina, who reached the final of last year's AmeriCup, but there's was an uneven journey to 2018 and international success is not something that has not come easily to them - their World Cup best was 6th in 1953.
Group B looking like a matter of big-hitters and small challengers - only time will tell if either or both of the latter will turn out to be giant killers.
Group A is already an exciting proposition: France are the group’s seeded team, and they will be joined by Canada, Americas champions the last two times out, as well as Greece and Korea, who have been highly overlooked in international competition.
Exceptional basketball from Greece saw them take down some of Europe’s biggest teams on their way to fourth place at last year’s EuroBasket, and after a poor start in Korea's last tournament, the 2017 Asian Cup, they pulled off a big victory against New Zealand to make the semi finals after many had already written them off. Both of these performances showed neither side should be underestimated.
Not so long ago this would have looked like a foregone conclusion, but in the past few years all of these teams fortunes and perceptions have changed. In addition to the prowesses of Greece and Korea, France are a solid, basket-finding force with some of the world's best players, while freewheeling and energetic Canada bring with them world-renowned players Kia Nurse and Nirra Fields. Regardless of the results, Group A is set to be a highly entertaining four-way battle.
If this tournament proves to be as competitive as it looks to be, when the tournament moves past the group stage to the final bracket it could produce some of the most unpredictable and spectacular basketball of the year (at least until the semi finals). The teams that avoid the elimination round should be no less, as the second and third place teams in each group will be tough opponents when the final eight teams are decided. After the high quality basketball we saw in the build up, we should be in store for a really good final tournament.
Can't wait for September? For more draw reactions and everything to do with the 2018 Women's World Cup, head to the official FIBA website.
