National team member of Georgia, Duda Sanadze, spoke with Basketball Sphere about the upcoming FIBA World Cup.
For the first time in its history, Georgia managed to qualify for the FIBA World Cup. And they did it in spectacular fashion. In the last round, they played against Iceland in Tbilisi, and in order to advance, it was necessary not to lose by more than three points. After 40 minutes of basketball, the scoreboard showed the score 77:80.
“Through the eye of a needle” – that’s how Georgia checked the visa for Mundobasket.
In an interview with Basketball Sphere, Duda Sanadze talked about the upcoming tournament, Georgia’s goals, and he pointed out also who are favorites for the gold medal.
By qualifying for the FIBA World Cup 2023, Georgia made history. Sanadze played 10 out of 12 games in the qualifiers, and he said the following about the feeling he had after the historic success:
“It’s a great feeling because we managed to make history. We qualified for the FIBA World Cup for the first time. It’s great to be a part of all this. I am very proud of what we managed to achieve.”
On paper, Georgia drew a group where they should be a big favorite to advance to the next stage. They will probably fight for first place in direct clash against Slovenia.
“We will play in a group against Slovenia, Cape Verde and Venezuela. It is obvious that our first goal is to advance to the next stage and go to Manila. On that way, we would make history once again by advancing to the second round.’‘
Duda Sanadze spent part of his career in Serbia. He played for Borac Cacak from 2020 to 2022. The “Eagles” will play at the FIBA World Cup 2023 in a Group B against China, Puerto Rico and South Sudan.
“I love Serbia, I spent almost two great years there playing for Borac Cacak. I have many friends and I always feel like at home there.
Serbia has a great national basketball team. It doesn’t matter in which roster they will perform at the FIBA World Cup 2023, they are always among the main favorites.”
At the end of the conversation, Sanadze stated who are the favorites at the World Cup, and revealed what his wish is for the gold medal.
“It’s hard to say… France, the United States, Serbia, Australia and Canada will have great teams at Mundobasket. It will be very interesting, that’s for sure. My wish is that someone from Europe wins the gold.” – concluded Duda Sanadze.
Georgia will play its first game at the FIBA World Cup 2023 on August 26 against Cape Verde. Two days later, they will compete against Slovenia, while in the last round on August 30, they will play against Venezuela.