Statement from Hidayet Türkoğlu about Fairies of the Crucible: 'Our goal is to participate in the European Championship'

A media day was held for the National Women's Basketball Team before the matches against Montenegro, Israel and Poland, which will be played in the second round of the 2027 FIBA ​​European Championship qualifiers.

Turkish Basketball Federation President Hidayet Türkoğlu, National Women's Basketball Team Head Coach Frederic Dusart, general manager Arzu Özyiğit and national basketball players attended the media day held at Turkcell Basketball Development Center.

Noting that their goal as a management is to always take part in organizations that will represent the country in the best way for men and women, Hidayet Türkoğlu said, "Recently, our women have achieved successes that will make us proud, but we could not get the success we wanted in the tournaments. I think we should see this as the points where we need to improve ourselves. We have an important three-game process ahead of us. Our goal is to participate in the European Championship. To reach the point where we will represent our country in the best way. Then, I believe that with the development of our athletes, we will go to the European Championship ready. This year is a new one. ekiple kadroyu kurduk. Yeni başantrenörümüze ve ekibine başarılar diliyorum. Takıma ablalık yapacağını düşündüğümüz Arzu'yu da ekibimize dahil ettik. Ona da başarılar diliyoruz. Kadromuz Avrupa Şampiyonası'na gidebilecek güçte. Yönetim olarak kadınlarımıza her anlamda güveniyoruz. Karadağ maçıyla da sahaya çıktıklarında bunu göstereceklerdir. Bütün ekibe başarılar diliyorum. Oyuncularımız bu formanın anlamını ve değerini biliyorlar. İnşallah ülkemizi gururlandıracak başarılar elde ederler. Konu milli takım olunca halkımız da "They have always done what is necessary. I believe that they will not leave our national team alone here either. With their support, our national team will achieve success that will make us proud," he said.

Türkoğlu emphasized that their duty as management is always to establish the right team and said:

"The athletes are performing, our duty is to support them as coaches and technical staff. We hope that we will benefit from experienced names on and off the field. Even if we bring in new teams, it is our athletes who will perform on the field. I am sure that they are aware of their responsibilities. We will continue to be with them under all circumstances. Our goal is to represent our country in international organizations in the best way. In this sense, we trust them completely."

FREDERIC DUSART: "WE WANT TO COMPLETE ALL 3 MATCHES IN THE BEST WAY"

Frederic Dusart, the new head coach of the National Women's Basketball Team, stated that he was honored to be at the head of the team.

Stating that their main focus is the team itself, Dusart said, "I am very honored to take office as head coach. The match will be the next step because we will have to acquire new habits. That is why we are focusing on ourselves first. We want to complete all 3 matches in the best possible way. Montenegro is a difficult team, it will be an interesting match. We will not deviate from our goal of winning the match by focusing on the main points. We do not have time to get bogged down in details, but our team is ready."

The French coach stated that he knows the team well even though he took office recently and said, "I was working as an assistant coach in Belgium. I know the team because we also played against Turkey while there. I can say that there is a good chemistry. Even though it has been a very short time, we are as ready as possible as a team."

Dusart, who also serves as the head coach of Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring Women's Basketball Team, explained that he consulted some members of the team before coming to the national team and said, "I was in contact with Sevgi, Derin and Gökçen before coming. They have certain habits that they developed in Galatasaray. They will all help the team to adapt quickly. I am sure that they will make a valuable contribution to my playing style and course of action."

ARZU ÖZYİĞİT: "A VERY NICE CAMP SEASON HAS STARTED WITH OUR NEW COACH"

Arzu Özyiğit, General Manager of the National Women's Basketball Team, reminded that she was the captain of the national team for years and said:

"Later, I had the honor of representing this team in the Olympics. Years later, this duty came back to me and I am here to serve my country with happiness. A very good camp period has started with our new coach. We think that this will be reflected in the matches. We want to get very good results and focus on our goal of first the European Championship, then the medal and the Olympics. The spirit of the national team never diminishes. As long as there is a star and crescent, our athletes work with the same desire. We are in such an organization in a very busy season. Although the girls played the match the day before, "Even though they have pain, they are working here. I believe that they will perform well. The national team is where they take the biggest responsibility and I believe that they will represent their country very well."

Team captain Olcay Çakır stated that they want to win the next 3 matches and said, "We have three important matches ahead of us. We want to win all three matches and look forward. This is our only goal. We have a new coach and a new method. Everyone has a completely different order in their club, we are trying to adapt to a new order here. But of course, we are not alone in this regard. Our preparations are progressing well. We have had two training sessions. We want to be ready in the best possible way."

PREPARATIONS CONTINUE

The national team, which will host Montenegro in the first match of the tour on Wednesday, November 11, at 19.00, held a training session, the first 15 minutes of which were open to the press, after the media day.

İdmanın öncesinde başantrenör Frederic Dusart, ay-yıldızlı takıma kısa bir konuşma yaptı.

Antrenmanın basına açık bölümünde ısınma hareketleri yapan milli takım, ardından şut ve taktik çalıştı.

MATCH SCHEDULE

The match schedule (TSI) of the FIBA 2027 European Championship qualifiers second round matches of the National Women's Basketball Team is as follows:

Wednesday, November 11:

19.00 Türkiye-Karadağ (Basketbol Gelişim Merkezi)

Saturday, November 14:

20.40 Israel-Türkiye (Rimi Olympic Centre)

Tuesday, November 17:

19.00 Poland-Türkiye (Gorzow Arena)