Category: 6. Sports

TAMPERE (Finland) – Lithuania’s Jonas Valanciunas hit the milestone of 500 points at FIBA EuroBasket in what is his sixth appearance at the tournament.

The 33-year-old has now scored more than 500 points in FIBA EuroBasket competitions since making his debut in 2011 in Lithuania – averaging 12.4 points per game before this summer’s edition.

Here’s a look back at his road to the new milestone.

1st points

Lithuania vs Poland, September 2 – FIBA EuroBasket 2011

While Valanciunas made his international debut against Great Britain in Lithuania’s opening game at FIBA EuroBasket 2011, his first points would come in the following game with a seven-point cameo in a 97-77 victory over Poland in Panevezys.

100 points

Lithuania vs Latvia, September 6 – FIBA EuroBasket 2013

After averaging 8.4 points per game at his first EuroBasket, Valanciunas would hit the triple-figure milestone and bag his first double-double in the third game of the 2013 edition in Slovenia with an 11-point, 10-rebound performance in a 67-59 victory over Latvia. Lithuania went on to reach the Final, but lost out to Tony Parker and the mighty France.

200 points

Lithuania vs Belgium, September 7 – FIBA EuroBasket 2015

While Lithuania suffered a heartbreakingly close loss against Belgium in Riga, Valanciunas would move beyond 200 points with a game-high 25 points, along with 12 rebounds. The minor setback would not deter Lithuania’s progress in the competition, as Valanciunas would erupt for 26 in the Quarter-Final win over Italy, en route to the Final, this time coming up short against Spain.

300 points

Lithuania vs Israel, September 2 – FIBA EuroBasket 2017

In the second game of the 2017 edition, Valanciunas would add 11 points in Lithuania’s 88-73 success over Israel. The big man later scored 27 points against Germany to conclude the Group Phase, but the journey was cut short thanks to Slovenia in the Round of 16. Valanciunas concluded with a double-double tournament average of 15.8 points and 12 rebounds per game.

400 points

Lithuania vs France, September 3 – FIBA EuroBasket 2022

Valanciunas went past the 400-point mark with a team-high 15 points in a narrow loss to France in the Group Phase. A EuroBasket career-best performance against Germany followed, as he exploded for 34 points, before the Baltic giants exited in the Round of 16 for the second consecutive tournament.

500 points

Lithuania vs Montenegro, August 29 – FIBA EuroBasket 2025

Valanciunas scored 18 points against Great Britain in the first game of his sixth appearance at a EuroBasket tournament, and then reached the 500-point mark against Montenegro in Lithuania’s second game with 12 points coming in the opening quarter alone including back-to-back threes.

* as of August 27, 2025.

FIBA

RIGA (Latvia) – It’s Alperen Sengun’s world, we’re just living in it. The Turkish center powered his nation to a second consecutive 2-0 start to FIBA EuroBasket, picking up a 92-78 win over Czechia.

Türkiye were also 2-0 at this point in 2022, before losing to Georgia in a double overtime game. They have not enjoyed a 3-0 start to EuroBasket since the event took place in Poland in 2009.

Turning Point

Czechia were off to a flying start in this one, knocking down five of their first seven attempts from beyond the arc and scoring 27 points in the first quarter alone. This is the part where we remind you they had a total of 50 points in the whole game vs Portugal on Day 1.

You could see that Türkiye were a bit stunned by that start, but also, that they would not panic, and would instead respond with a big run of their own.

They went on a second-quarter 14-0 burst with six different players scoring, showcasing their depth to take the lead and keep Czechia in the rear view mirror the rest of the way.

TCL Player of the Game

Türkiye have had two balanced efforts in their two wins, but it’s clear as day Alperen Sengun is a different beast.

The 23-year-old had 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, with 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks, a steal and an efficiency rating of 40, a game-high by some distance, hearing the MVP chants from the Turkish fans in Latvia.

Cedi Osman and Ercan Osmani deserve mentions, too. Osmani was strong to start the game, Osman had another gigantic third quarter, more than enough to get Türkiye a 2-0 start.

Stats Don’t Lie

Without Jan Vesely and Ondrej Balvin, it’s hard to protect the pain the way they used to do it in Czechia. Türkiye took full advantage of their size, driving inside and getting easy shots, winning the paint points 50-26.

Bottom Line

Türkiye took care of business, and it must be a nice feeling for coach Ergin Ataman to know his team is capable of double digit wins even with Shane Larkin scoring just 5 points.

Czechia meanwhile looked way better than in the first game, Martin Peterka delivering with five triples and 23 points off the bench. Czechia are down to 0-2 with games against Estonia, Serbia and Latvia up next.

They Said

For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!

FIBA

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu put on a valiant effort but fell short as she crashed out in the quarter-finals of the BWF World Championships 2025 badminton in Paris on Friday.

PV Sindhu, 15th in the women’s singles badminton rankings, was beaten 21-14, 13-21, 21-16 by world No. 9 Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia.

Competing at the Adidas Arena, PV Sindhu was slow off the blocks and trailed 11-7 at the interval before conceding the first game.

She fought back in the second by using her long reach to effectively cover the court while Putri Kusuma Wardani made some unforced errors as the match went into a decider.

The decider was evenly contested, with PV Sindhu ensuring that Putri Kusuma Wardani didn’t open a gap of more than three points for the majority of the third game.

However, the Indian badminton player conceded four straight points while trailing 17-16 as Putri Kusuma Wardani went on to win a hard-fought contest in an hour and four minutes.

This was PV Sindhu’s third loss in five meetings against Putri Kusuma Wardani. A victory would have made five-time medallist Sindhu the outright record-holder for most women’s singles medals at the BWF World Championships, surpassing Zhang Ning.

In the mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto were ousted in the quarter-finals after losing to fourth seeds Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia.

The Indian duo began brightly, taking an 8-3 lead in the opener but lost their rhythm soon after and slipped to a 21-15, 21-13 defeat in just 37 minutes.

India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the ninth seeds in men’s doubles, will be in action later in the day. They will take on second seeds and two-time Olympic bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia.

The Indian men’s hockey team began their Asia Cup 2025 campaign with a 4-3 win against the People’s Republic of China at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar on Friday.

For India, seventh in the men’s hockey rankings, captain Harmanpreet Singh (20’, 33’, 47’) scored a hat-trick, while Jugraj Singh (18’) was the other goal scorer. World No. 23 China got their goals from Shihao Du (12’), Benhai Chen (35’) and Jiesheng Gao (41’).

Right from the push back, India were on the front foot as they attacked with pace. China absorbed the early pressure, survived a penalty corner and then started to stitch together a few moves that had India concerned.

The pressure eventually paid off for China as they won a penalty corner of their own and then converted it courtesy of Shihao Du. India tried to mount a comeback quickly and put pressure on China but trailed 1-0 at the end of the first quarter.

India began the second quarter on the attack and three minutes into the period, they won a penalty corner, which Jugraj Singh smashed home to make it 1-1.

Shortly after, India earned another penalty corner and Harmanpreet Singh rifled it home to make it 2-1.

The hosts continued to dominate proceedings and kept China, who created a couple of chances, at arm’s length through the rest of the quarter. At the half-time break, India led 2-1.

India came out of the break looking to attack and skipper Harmanpreet Singh soon made it 3-1 from the first penalty corner of the quarter.

China responded by winning their third penalty corner and Benhai Chen converted to make it 3-2.

For the next few minutes, India and China matched each other move for move with the latter looking dangerous.

With 20 minutes to go in the game, China won a couple of penalty corners and the second resulted in an equaliser from Jiesheng Gao. At the end of the quarter, both sides were locked at 3-3 with the game very much in the balance.

India began the final quarter with intent as they earned a couple more penalty corners early on, allowing Harmanpreet Singh to complete his hat-trick with aplomb and give the hosts a 4-3 lead.

The hosts continued to keep the game in the opposition half of the field, making it tough for China in the final minutes. India eventually held on to their narrow lead to win their opening match of the tournament.

India will play their second Pool A match in the Asia Cup hockey tournament against Japan on Saturday. The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super 4s stage.

KATOWICE (Poland) – Even though Slovenia started their FIBA EuroBasket 2025 campaign with a defeat to Poland, Luka Doncic added one more page to his already distinguished chapter in the competition’s history books.

In his first official game with the national team as a Los Angeles Laker, he became the first ever player to register more than 30 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals in a single EuroBasket game since at least 1995, when relevant records started being kept.

With an astonishing losing effort of 34 points, 9 assists, and 5 steals in front of the NBA franchise’s delegation in Spodek Arena, Luka Magic continued the Lakers’ tradition of EuroBasket excellence.

The Slovenian leader and EuroBasket 2017 champion is the latest of Lakers players who represented their nation at this stage and collected individual and team accolades.

Pau Gasol (Spain)

You can’t say “FIBA EuroBasket excellence” without mentioning Pau Gasol, who won three EuroBasket titles (2009, 2011, and 2015) with the Spanish national team. He also stepped on the podium in four other editions.

Spain’s legend is also the player with the most appearances (7) in the FIBA EuroBasket All-Star Five, and the one with the most EuroBasket MVP awards (2) alongside Kresimir Kosic. Pau was the EuroBasket Top Scorer in three different editions and is the competition’s all-time leading scorer, with 1,183 points.

He was a key piece in the purple and gold LA franchise winning the NBA title twice during his stint in Los Angeles, from 2008 to 2014.

Vlade Divac (Yugoslavia)

The first really big non-US name to pull on the Los Angeles Lakers jersey, Vlade Divac is a multi-time winner at FIBA EuroBasket and twice a member of the EuroBasket All-Star Five. He played in LA from 1989 to 1996 and had another short stint in 2004-05 before retiring.

He first contributed to Yugoslavia’s third-place finish in 1987 and then to two titles, at FIBA EuroBasket 1989 and 1991. Then, he led the team to glory once again at FIBA EuroBasket 1995, stepping on the podium one last time in 1999.

Marc Gasol (Spain)

Next to his brother Pau, Marc Gasol collected two FIBA EuroBasket titles, in 2009 and 2011. Moreover, the iconic Spanish center brought home three more medals in 2007, 2013, and 2017.

Before returning to Spain as Girona’s president and leader on the floor, he also spent time with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020-21, his last season in the NBA.

Dennis Schroder (Germany)

The German national team captain is, alongside Luka Doncic, the only active player on this list who managed to step on the FIBA EuroBasket podium at least once. That happened back in 2022, when Germany came in third.

Dennis Schroder, who averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 assists for the Lakers in 2020-21 and returned for another stint in 2022-23, is Germany’s heart and soul. He had 21 points in this edition’s opening win against Montenegro.

Moreover, he ranks among the most prominent scorers in the history of FIBA EuroBasket, as he is averaging 22.3 points per game in the competition.

Ronny Turiaf (France)

Ronny Turiaf didn’t win the FIBA EuroBasket title with the French national team, but he participated in two editions: in 2007, when the tournament was held in Spain, and in 2009 in Poland.

One of the two Ambassadors of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2025, the charismatic big man was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 37th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, and stayed with the team until 2008.

Luol Deng (Great Britain)

Entering the NBA in 2004 to retire 15 years later, Luol Deng also played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2016 to 2018, after he had established himself as Great Britain’s bona fide superstar.

The current president of the South Sudanese basketball federation had a fantastic campaign at FIBA EuroBasket 2011; he led the competition in points per game with 24.6, adding 9.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists.

Honorable mentions

The list of European players who played for the Lakers and competed for their country at FIBA EuroBasket includes several more names, such as point guard Jose Calderon, a EuroBasket 2011 champion with Spain. .

Former Laker Ivica Zubac played for Croatia at FIBA EuroBasket 2022, just like Ukraine’s Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk. Sasha Vujacic is the other Slovenian to have worn the purple and gold, from 2004 to 2010, but didn’t compete for Slovenia at senior level.

With Greece starting off strong in Group C on Thursday, could Kostas Antetokounmpo become another Laker, albeit former in his case, to celebrate podium success at FIBA EuroBasket?

FIBA