It is done. The tri-color basketball players have validated their ticket for the Tokyo Olympic Games (from July 24 to August 9, 2020). The French defeated Brazil 89-72 on Saturday February 8 at Bourges for their second match of the qualifying tournament.
The Blue will play for the fourth time the Olympic Games after Sydney in 2000, London in 2012 (silver medal) and Rio in 2016 (fourth place). In Tokyo, Valérie Garnier's players will be candidates for a second podium.
After their success against the Australian vice-world champions on Thursday at the opening, the Blue showed that it would again be necessary to count with them in Japan.
Sandrine Gruda Imperial
Better, if successful against little Puerto Rico on Sunday, the Blue would be in good shape for Tokyo. First place at Bourges could allow them to be seeded in the draw on March 21, with a course that would cross paths with the American ogre as late as possible in the competition.
In the meantime, they can be satisfied with another great performance at Bourges. If they had been fierce against Australia, this time they added a little offensive finesse to their range. Already imperial against Australia, Sandrine Gruda rose once again (18 points at halftime, 26 in all) to give fresh air to her team at the break (38-27).
Except that the Brazilians ended up coming back and making the players of Valérie Garnier doubt a little. The Seleçao did not give up, even coming back to four lengths in the middle of the third quarter (40-36). But in terms of intensity and aggressiveness, the French, stifling against Australia, have again released the big game.
With the aggressiveness of Helena Ciak and Alexia Chartereau under the basket, they slowed Brazil down. And since, offensively, Marine Johannès took the game on her own, everything went well.
