Catalan NBA stars power national team to Basketball World Cup QF
Barcelona’s women’s team thrashed the future Real Madrid, and a Catalan silver medal at the US Open
Rubio and Gasol shine in China
Ricky Rubio and Marc Gasol have helped the Spain national team to reach the quarter finals of the Basketball World Cup in China, where they will face Poland on Tuesday. They held off the challenge of a tough Serbia team in the second round, with the Catalan stars shining throughout, as they had done in the group stage. Rubio stood out with 19 points to his name, almost a quarter of that scored by the entire team.
Both stars are having excellent tournaments so far, with Rubio averaging 14.6 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game, and Gasol managing 11.6 points, 3.0 assists, and 5.8 rebounds each match — all of which defensive.
Catalan Basketball League returns
The Catalan Basketball League takes place this week. The knockout tournament will see all games hosted by Joventut Badalona, with semi final pairings of Manresa vs Andorra, and Badalona vs Barcelona.
Barcelona have a record 21 titles to their name, while Badalona come second in that ranking with 11.
Barça women thrash future Real Madrid
The highly anticipated Liga Iberdrola 2019/20 season kicked off over the weekend, with one particularly showpiece matchup taking place in game week one. Barcelona hosted newly promoted CD Tacón, the club purchased by Real Madrid over the summer, on the opening day of the season in a match which saw no fewer than ten goals scored.
The Catalans, who finished runners up in both the league and the Champions League last term, gave their future Real Madrid counterparts a rough welcome to life in the top division of women’s football with a 9-1 thrashing, with Jenni Hermoso scoring a hat trick.
This match was also the first women’s game to be played in the brand new Estadi Johan Cruyff, which is the new home for Barça’s women’s side as well as the B team, replacing the Mini Estadi which currently stands right beside the Camp Nou.
Elsewhere, Espanyol were beaten 3-1 away to Deportivo La Coruña in their league opener over the weekend. The match was also a historic occasion as it was the Galicians’ debut in the top division of women’s football.
Busquets helps Spain earn historic win
The Spanish national team are one step closer to qualifying for the 2020 European championship after two wins over the weekend. Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets played 90 minutes as Spain made history by winning their first ever match in Romania. Previously, the team had drawn three and lost three in official matches away to Romania.
US Open Catalan runner up
In tennis, the calendar’s fourth major, the US Open, came to its conclusion this weekend, with Catalan representation in the men’s double’s final. Marcel Granollers, from Barcelona, came runners up in Arthur Ashe stadium, as he and Argentine teammate Horacio Zeballos fell to the Colombian duo of Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah in two sets.
After a fantastic couple of weeks in New York, Granollers has surged up the ATP rankings to 9th place now, rising 18 places.