Italy Punch Ticket To Slovenia

Italy players celebrate securing a spot at EuroBasket 2013 with two games to spare in the Qualification Round

There were scenes of joy in Trieste on Sunday as Italy celebrated securing their place at EuroBasket 2013 after claiming the 68-56 success they needed against the Czech Republic to travel to Slovenia.

Whilst there was no true outstanding performer for Italy, that really didn't matter in a passionate all-round team performance with solid defence very much the key to success.

The home team was always on top of their Group F rivals right from the tip-off and importantly this helped to ease the nerves of the home supporters.

Italy built up a nice cushion for themselves early in the second period when a three-pointer by Luigi Datome made it 24-14 and when Daniel Hackett rattled off four points in quick succession, the hosts really took a grip of the game.

It was not one they would let go of, despite the Czech Republic trying desperately to work themselves back into the game, mainly through centre Petr Benda, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

However, with little coming to fruition from beyond the three-point line, it was always a long way back for the visitors.

Once they found themselves down by 16 after twenty minutes, they never looked like having the firepower to launch an escape mission.

Pietro Aradori top scored for the jubilant Italians with 14 points.

Quotes Italy vs. Czech Republic

Czech Republic head coach Pavel Budinsky
"Congratulations to Italy. They played in a very good and aggressive way. The turning point of the game was the first minutes of the second quarter where we were not able to score. In the third quarter our defence was good but not enough to come back. We played the game in a very nice atmosphere."

Italy head coach Simone Pianigiani
"I am very happy for the qualification, but particularly for the way we reached it. We won six games in a row and in each of them responsibilities and defence were shared from all players. I can say that this is the qualification of all the team, where everybody, even who played few minutes, was fundamental. The Czech Republic is a very talented team, they are taller, but we were clever to pass the ball, to defend strong all the game and we were able to force them not to score more than 56 points. The experience we are gaining this year will be very useful in the future."

Czech Republic player Jakub Kudlacek
"It was a tough game. We wanted to win even because we had lost our home game against them. We were not aggresive enough in the first period, we went down and we were not able to come back. I do not think that it would have been impossible to beat our opponents, but the fact the game was played in Italy was decisive and of a great help for them."

Italy player Daniel Hackett
"It was important for us to win because we could qualify to EuroBasket 2013. Our defence was very decisive for this game. We have been working all summer to this aim. We are happy, but we know we have still to improve to became a top team in Europe. Next game is against Turkey, a good chance to gain more experience."