Georgia to open EuroBasket tournament with match against Belgium

The Georgian national basketball team will play the first match of this year’s EuroBasket competition with a fixture against Belgium on Thursday, with the newly completed Tbilisi Arena in capital Tbilisi to host the opening game.

Between September 1-7, national teams of Georgia, Spain, Türkiye, Belgium, Bulgaria and Montenegro will hold Division A matches, with Georgia co-hosting the continent’s major basketball event for the first time, alongside Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic.

In news around the Georgian national squad, the Georgian Basketball Federation said Mikheil Berishvili would replace captain Tornike Shengelia following the latter’s shoulder injury, sustained during the August match against the Netherlands.

See the 12-member EuroBasket squad of the Georgian national team

Photo: Georgian Basketball Federation

Commenting on the upcoming championship, Ilias Zouros, the head coach of the Georgian team, said he had been “dreaming” of the moment for a long time and added his team could not wait to start the first game of the competition.

I hope the Georgian team will play successfully and travel to Berlin for the next round.  […] Our goal is to get to the Berlin stage. During my career in basketball, I realised everything happens step by step. We have to have the right reaction to the current situation, we are playing at home, and we have to use the support of our fans”, Zouros said.

Head coach of the Georgian basketball team, Ilias Zouros. Photo: Georgian Basketball Federation

The match against Belgium will start at 9 p.m. local Tbilisi time.

Georgia’s co-hosting of EuroBasket is also coinciding with the centenary anniversary of the founding of the Georgian professional basketball. The date is marked after a symbolic event in 1922, when Alexandre Chelidze, a Georgian athlete who had discovered the sport while attending a competition in Moscow that year, set up the first basketball court in Georgia.

On Wednesday, the official fan zone for the EuroBasket tournament was opened in Rike Park in the Georgian capital.

The fan zone features spaces with large screens for fans to watch tournament matches and support national teams, a ‘history alley’ marking the centenary anniversary, a 3X3 basketball court and fan shops, as well as corners for sponsors, food and drink, children’s entertainment and digital sports areas.