Sweden surprisingly knocked out the reigning world champion in the men’s European Championship qualifiers.
The men’s European Championship qualifiers saw one of the best individual performances in history, when David Kramer bagged 43 points for Germany, but the achievement was overshadowed by Sweden’s miraculous rise and the world champion’s surprise defeat.
Sweden showed that everything is possible in basketball. The western neighbor was nine points behind Germany with 1:47 left in the game. From this position, Sweden pushed a point to victory with a score of 73–72.
Eight seconds before the end, a two-meter, second/third place player Christopher Czerapowicz sealed Sweden’s victory with two successful free throws.
– He has ice in his veins. This was the craziest basketball match I’ve ever seen, SVT expert Nick Rajacic hekumoi
The promoter of the attacking game who scored a total of 22 points for Sweden Ludvig Håkansson made two three-pointers in the final wild chase.
Crown Princess Victoria and in front of his family’s eyes, in Stockholm’s Hovet Arena, which drew 8,906 spectators, Sweden took one of its biggest basketball victories to date. Germany won the World Cup gold in 2023.
– These guys have made history. As far as I know, for the first time Sweden has beaten the reigning world champions (in basketball). It doesn’t have to look that good, and we don’t have to be that good at rebounding (37-54), as long as Christopher Czerapowicz is on the line, grinned the Swedish coach Mikko Riipinen for SVT Sport.
In the name of truth, Germany was missing several top players in the match.
Tenerife’s star player David Krämer was almost impossible to defend. He took 19 shots and scored 43 points. Krämer sank the triples with a balance of 8/11. In the last barely two minutes, Sweden Melvin Pantzar however, was overshadowed by Krämer, who threw the record points.
The win was important for Sweden in the European Championship qualification and it got its second win in three games. On Monday, Sweden travels to the EC qualifiers as a guest of Germany, who are looking for quick revenge. The other teams in the group are Montenegro with two wins and Bulgaria with one win. The three best teams in the group will reach next year’s European Championships.