The Czechs started the match well, leading 5-0, but then the opponent started on top. When the Spanish took the lead, they didn’t let it slip away. But the tremendous fighting spirit of the Czech basketball players brought the game to a dramatic end. “I have mixed feelings. I’m proud of the girls, they gave 100 percent, played a brave game and showed great character,” explained coach Romana Ptáčková.
Although he did not hide that the last defeat hurt him. Although he honestly admitted in one breath that before the championship, the goals of their charges were completely different. He himself is thinking more about advancing to the top eight. “Progressing to the final was more than planned for me. We should all be celebrating now, but we know there’s not much left in the final. It’s a shame, it’s enough to give away a few simple chances and… I’m proud of girls,” said the coach of the Czech team.
So what does he think decided the finale? “The girls forced the Spaniards into more turnovers, but then they couldn’t convert them into points. The Spaniards turned the chances into points. It was a game of defense, where the score shows, the Spaniards is more rude. But I believe that even if the defeat came today, it can be an impulse for the girls in the future in the fact that it will be successful one day,” Ptáčková added optimistically.
Romana Ptáčková, coach of the Czech under-20 basketball team, was proud of her players after the EC final, but was hurt by the loss.Picture: Czech Basketball Federation
“One will now replay in his mind what he should and should not have done differently. But each of us put everything in the game, there is nothing to worry about,” said captain Pokorná, who saying that it is very difficult to prepare for the finals of a big tournament. Few people will experience that feeling in their entire career. “But the girls managed it, I’m proud of them. Maybe the final will come again,” added the Czech representative.
The Czechs thus won their fourth medal in the under-20 category. They reached the final after twenty years, but in 2002 they celebrated gold. The silver from Sopron equals the result since 2000, when twenty took silver. And in 2004 he took bronze. “I’m not much of a celebration type, but this second place should be celebrated,” Pokorná managed to admit despite the sadness of losing the fight for gold.