February 10, 2022
Group A:
Since there were not enough willing hosts, Belgrade welcomed two different groups. Australia automatically qualifies since they are hosting the main tournament, but still played and started Thursday with a 65-52 win over Brazil. The last game of the day was also in this group and ended up being the best opener as Serbia fended off one final late charge from South Korea to win 65-62 at home.
Australia vs. Brazil 65-52 AUS Allen 16/6s Tolo 12 Whitcomb 11 Smith 7 Garbin 6/6r George 4/8r Talbot 3/7r Blicavs 3 Heal 3 Madgen 0 Wallace 0 Rocci 0 BRA Carvalho 13 Paixao 9 Cardoso 6 Goncalo 5 De Souza 4/9r Ramona 4 Monteiro 4 Silva 4 Costa 2 Teixeira 1 Soares 0 Moura DNP
South Korea vs. Serbia 62-65 KOR Kim 16 Park J-H 10 Park H-J 9 Park J-S 8/12r Choi 7 Bae 5 Kang 3 Jin 2 Yoon 2 Heo DNP Lee S-H DNP Lee H-R DNP SRB Anderson 13/9r/7a Nogic 13 Stankovic 10/10r Crvendakic 8/8r Cado 7 Topuzovic 6/7r Krajisnik 6 Djordjevic 2 Skoric 0 Katanic 0 Raca 0 Mandic DNP
Group B:
With the chaos in other groups and format of the tournaments, this group is the only one that has a semblance of normalcy as the top three teams will qualify. China used a fast start to roll past Nigeria 90-76. Sika Kone made an impression on everyone as she was given a higher level responsibility by Mali and they kept it close all game long before losing to France 77-66.
China vs. Nigeria 90-76 CHN Li YR 19/6r Li M 19 Han 15 Huang 8/6a Pan 7 Li Y 6/7a Wang 5/7a Gao 4 Yang 3 Zhang 2 Jin 2 Wu 0 NGR Okonkwo 15 Kunaiyi-Akpanah 12 Elonu 12 Amukamara 10 Nyingifa 9 Chidom 8 Enabosi 4 Musa 4 Macaulay 2 Akaraiwe 0 Ibekwe DNP
France vs. Mali 77-66 FRA Toure 14 Rupert 13 Williams 11 Chartereau 11 Johannes 11 Ciak 10 Badiane 4 Berkani 3 Epoupa 0 Chery 0 Fauthoux 0 Chevaugeon 0 MLI Kone 26/9r N’Diaye 12 Tirera 8 Gandega 5/6a A. Coulibaly 5 K. Coulibaly 4 Sangare 2 N. Traore 2 Am. Traore 2 As. Traore 0 Sissoko DNP Dabou DNP