2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup: Tunisia has one eye on next year's Olympics
Updated 17:25, 15-Aug-2019
More basketball now. Tunisia's team have intensified preparations ahead of the World Cup. The tournament will feature 32 teams from four confederations and Tunisia are looking to make a big impact in the tournament. CGTN's Adnen Chaouachi has more.
Tunisia's national basketball team defeated Morocco's 75-72 at a friendly played in Monastir. The game is part of the national team's warm-up for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China.
MARIO PALMA TUNISIA COACH "This is our 1st game. They made a game in Turkey and here with under 23 team. In 4th quarter we were tired. We were winning 16 points ad did not make point more because we were completely tired. We have injuries also. We lost many points. I think it's a very good match. Morocco is a good team and beating them with these difficulties is very good."
OMAR ABADA TUNISIA POINT GUARD "The high level preparation in Tunisia and abroad and the good choice of adversaries will show the strengths and weaknesses of the team. Qualifying to the world cup is a privilege. We'll give our best."
The Carthage Eagles were drawn in Group C along with Spain, Iran and Puerto Rico.
RADHOUANE SLIMANE TUNISIA FORWARD "Spain is a former world and European champion. Iran is the champion of Asia and Puerto Rico is one of the best teams in Latin America. It's a difficult group but we're confident. Tunisia has shown that it has a good team. We hope to continue with a good performance."
After all of the games are played in Tunisia's group C, the top two teams with the best records qualify for the Second round and the bottom two teams will play in the Classification Round.
ADNEN CHAOUACHI TUNIS, TUNISIA "Set to feature a record 32 national teams, the FIBA Basketball World Cup will be played in eight Chinese cities. The 2019 tournament in China will qualify directly 7 teams to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. AC, CGTN."