Estonia's men's basketball team prepares for World Cup qualifiers with two friendlies
Estonia's men's national basketball team is preparing for decisive World Cup qualification matches against Hungary and Finland, starting with two away friendlies against Lithuania and Italy.
Estonia's men's national basketball team has begun preparations for the second round of World Cup qualification matches, where it will face Hungary and Finland.
The first qualifier is scheduled for August 27 in Miskolc, Hungary, followed by a home match on August 30 against Finland at Unibet Arena in Tallinn, under head coach Heiko Rannula.
Warm-up matches
Before the decisive qualifiers, the team will hold a week-long training camp this week featuring two friendly matches. On August 20 Estonia will play Lithuania in Kaunas, and two days later, on August 22, it will face Italy in Trento. Lithuania has already announced it will field an experimental lineup for the friendly, while both Hungary and Finland are expected to call up their strongest players for the qualifiers — Finland could even be joined by NBA player Lauri Markkanen.
Squad
17 players have been called up for the preparation matches. Center Maik-Kalev Kotsar was among the last to join the camp. The squad also includes the team's most experienced players — Kristjan Kullamäe, Sander Raieste, Siim-Sander Vene, Henri Drell and Artur Kononchuk.
