Sopron Basket Wins Top European Women's Title

Sopron Basket became the first Hungarian team to win the women's basketball Euroleague, the top European competition in this sport, as they beat host Fenerbahce 60-55 in the final of the quadruple final in Istanbul on Sunday.

As expected, a hell of an atmosphere greeted the Hungarians at Ülker Spor ve Etkinlik Salonu sports hall with 9,500 fans in the stands – including almost 40 from Sopron, the Hungarian state news agency MTI reports.

The battle between the clubs, who were aiming for their first Euroleague trophy, started with an amazing 12-0 lead, thanks mainly to Sopron’s Hungarian captain Zsófia Fegyverneky, the favorites from Turkey only scoring first after seven and a half minutes(!). The home team suffered, forced to make shots from hopeless situations, and their stars also played with a lot of mistakes, while Sopron grabbed 16 rebounds in the opening quarter alone.

In the continuation of the game, a 5-0 Istanbul run ensued, and the incredibly physical Ukrainian Alina Iagupova single-handedly kept her team in the game. However, a triple by the Serbian European champion Jelena Brooks restored the ten-point difference (25-15) and Sopron had a 29-19 lead at half time.

After the break, Sopron allowed their rivals to play more steadily and the Turkish side reduced the deficit to one point (33-32) after five minutes. The visiting fans were calmed down by the points scored by 208-cm tall Hungarian player Bernadett Határ and the last quarter started from 45-38.

French Gabby Williams, bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, made a great triple and scored her 15th point to make the score 51-43, then the five-point Hungarian lead was stable. While Fenerbahce seemed to lose hope, the Hungarian side eventually won 60-55 deservedly and with unheard-of discipline. The Most Valuable Player of the game was Gabby Williams, who was the highest scorer in the field with 16 points.

The 14-time Hungarian champions reached their fifth Final Four for the second time since 2018 and became the first Hungarian team to triumph in the elite continental series, which was established in 1959.