2010 FIBA World Championship for Women

2010 FIBA World Championship for Women
Mistrovství světa v basketbalu žen 2010
Tournament details
Host country Czech Republic
CityOstrava
Brno
Karlovy Vary
DatesSeptember 23 – October 3
Teams16 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions United States (8th title)
Runners-up Czech Republic
Third place Spain
Fourth place Belarus
Tournament statistics
MVPCzech Republic Hana Horáková
Top scorerJapan Yuko Oga
(19.1 points per game)
2006
2014

The 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, the 16th edition of FIBA's premier tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held from September 23 to October 3, 2010 in the Czech Republic. Three cities, Ostrava, Brno and Karlovy Vary, hosted games. Four countries initially bid for the event but Australia, France and Latvia withdrew during the bidding process.[1]

The USA won its eighth title, extending its own record for the most wins in tournament history. The other medalists—the Czech Republic with silver and Spain with bronze—had not previously medaled at a World Championship. The Czechoslovakia women's team had won six medals in previous World Championships, but FIBA considers the Czech Republic and Slovakia to be separate teams from the former Czechoslovakia. The Czech Republic's Hana Horáková was chosen as the tournament's most valuable player.[2]

Pre-tournament favourites USA, Russia, and Australia dominated play in the first two rounds, with the Russia and the USA going undefeated and Australia only losing to the USA in the second round after both teams had guaranteed progression to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, however, Russia and Australia suffered shock defeats to Belarus and the Czech Republic respectively.[3] Meanwhile, the USA cruised into the final with easy wins over injury-ridden South Korea[4] and Spain. After knocking out the defending World Champions, the Czechs defeated Belarus in overtime to set up the final with the USA.[5]

In the final the USA were heavy favourites but the Czechs were supported by a partisan crowd of over 6000 that included Czech president Václav Klaus. The USA led for most of the match, but the Czechs were able to keep it close in the first half, trailing only 40-35 at the break.[6] The USA pulled away in the second half to win 89-69.[7]

  1. ^ "FIBA Central Board - 2010 Women's World Championships for Czech Republic". AIPS. 2007-12-10. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  2. ^ "CZE - FIBA considers lowering rim for women's basketball". FIBA.COM. Archived from the original on 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  3. ^ "Hosts shock Australia as Russia lose to Belarus". BBC News. October 2, 2010.
  4. ^ "KOR - Derailed by injuries | FIBA.COM". Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  5. ^ "Czechs steal thrilling OT win at basketball worlds". BBC News. October 3, 2010.
  6. ^ "US women beat Czechs for gold at basketball worlds". USA Today. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  7. ^ "2010 FIBA Women's World Championship: United States beats Czech Republic for gold medal". ESPN.com.