EuroBasket 2009

The EuroBasket 2009 was the 36th EuroBasket, the biennial regional basketball championship contested by European nations and held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September 2009 and concluded with the final on 20 September 2009. The competition served as a qualification tournament for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

Spain claimed their first EuroBasket title by routing Serbia 85–63 in the final. Greece captured the bronze medal with a 57–56 victory over Slovenia. The four semifinalists plus France and Croatia claimed the six European qualifying spots for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Spain's Pau Gasol was named the tournament's most valuable player.

Venues

The tournament was played at seven venues in seven cities throughout Poland. Each one of the total six groups in the preliminary and the qualifying round was hosted by a single arena, while the entire knockout stage was played at Spodek Arena, Katowice.

Qualification

The draw for the qualifying round took place on 16 February 2008 in Venice, Italy. Poland, as host nation, and the seven top-placed nations in EuroBasket 2007 automatically qualified for the tournament finals. From the qualifying round, the winners of the four groups and the three best second-place teams also advanced to the final round of the event. The ten teams who participated in the qualifying round and did not succeed in...
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