Georgia loses to Italy in basketball World Cup qualifiers

Georgia’s national basketball team was defeated by Italy with the score 85:84 in a qualification fixture for the 2023 World Cup on Monday at Tbilisi Arena.

The visiting team led the score 43:40 following the first half before the Georgian squad improved later in the match but failed to capitalise on several occasions to take the lead.

The Italians scored a number of three-pointers in the encounter before closing the game with the single-point advantage.

Ilias Zouros, the head coach of the national team, had lauded the impact of home fans before the match, however even the presence of the country’s football revelation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the stands did not turn fortunes to the advantage of the home team.

Photo: 1 TV sport facebook page.

Georgia still maintains a chance of qualifying for the tournament and will face Iceland and the Netherlands in their next fixtures. The team sits third in group L of the qualifying round with 12 points.