The new ranking published by FIBA placed Lithuania in 12th place. Previously, it was in 9th position among the European qualifiers.
In the last window of the World Championship qualifiers, Rimas Kurtinaitis’s team defeated Great Britain but lost to Italy. They currently have 3 wins and 3 losses.
“The roster does not look as intriguing as in the previous qualifying window, and the schedule is not very favorable for Lithuania – they will have to travel to Turkey and face the physically strong Bosnia and Herzegovina team,” the FIBA statement reads.
“So, considering the tough trip to Turkey, the physically strong opponent – Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the roster without Jonas Valančiūnas, Matas Buzelis, and Kasparas Jakučionis, we have three reasons why we dropped Lithuania three places in the ranking.”
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Lithuania will play against Turkey in Istanbul on August 28 at 9 PM, and on August 31 at 6:30 PM will host Bosnia and Herzegovina at home.
The first Lithuanian opponents, the Turks, remain in high spirits in the European ranking. They are at the very top. The French remain second, and the Serbs third.
The Spaniards dropped one step to 6th, while Croatia rose to 5th.
Finland rose two places to 9th in this ranking, Ukraine made the same jump and is 10th, and Greece also rose two places and ranks 11th.
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