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Nordic Championships 2010: Day 3 (live from Solna)

May 14th, 2010 · No Comments

The third day of the Nordic Championships 2010 was also my last day in Sweden. I really liked the tournament and talent level was also very interesting. Here we go for the round-up of Friday’s action before the detailed player reports will go online somewhere next week.

  • The opener was the game between Norway U18 and Iceland U18. The Norwegians played probably their best game of the tournament but it was not enough to beat an Icelandic team. Norway turned the ball over 36 times so it is nearly impossible to win even if you shoot 42.1% from behind the arc. Chris-Ebou Ndow did a nice job as the 1993 born forward had 14pts, 3rebs and 2asts. On the Icelandic side, Haukur Palsson did a good job with 19pts, 4rebs and 3rebs while Kristofer Acox was once again present with 11pts, 8rebs 2asts, 4stls and 3blks.
  • Sweden U18 had not much trouble to beat Denmark after a nice first quarter and a good team effort with 6 players in double figures. William Magarity had 10pts, 8rebs and 3blks while Marcus Eriksson continued to make his shots for 13pts. On the Danish side, Kevin Larsen was the main offensive factor with 12pts and 8rebs, while Andreas Bigum played a nice game with 12pts and 7rebs.
  • The game between Denmark U16 and Norway became a real shooting festival as Espen Fjaerestad finished with an incredible 7/9 2s and 7/9 3s. But it was not enough as Peter Moeller stepped up in the second half where he scored 21 of his 25pts but also had 8rebs and 3asts. Rasmus Larsen was not a huge factor as nobody was really able to pass him the ball against the Norwegian zone and he finished with 8pts and 7rebs.

The tournament is major popular success

  • The surprise of the day was the win of Iceland U16 over Sweden behind a fantastic effort of hustle play and defense. The team from the island managed to control Nicholas Spires who despite his 24pts, 14rebs and 2blks had not the necessary impact on the game to win it for his team. Iceland was lead by their shooter Martin Hermannsson who finished with 20pts while 1995 born Maciej Baginski had 12pts and 8rebs. Simon Ezra did a nice offensive effort for Sweden with 15pts but turned the ball over 5 times as well.
  • The best game of the day was probably also the last one between Sweden U18 and Finland. While the Swedish team was up large in the second half, Finland fought back behind the excellent shooting of Osku Heinonen who had 22pts in the end. But William Magarity was the leader with 22pts, 9rebs, 2stls and 3blks while Viktor Gaddefors had 18pts, 3asts and 3stls and Jonathan Person played his best game of the tournament for Sweden with 19pts, 7rebs and 7asts.
  • In the same time, Finland U16 dominated Norway U16 heavily 83-45.
  • The Tournament will continue with the last qualification round games on Saturday while the Finals will be played on Sunday.
  • A big THANK YOU to all the organizers of the tournament for the great three days I could spend in Solna. Your tournament definitely was worth the trip and I hope to generate more interest from the rest of Europe for the effort you are doing in Sweden.

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