Touched in the right shoulder on Sunday against Slovenia, the interior of the French basketball team Iliana Rupert does not suffer from a major injury, the French Federation said on Monday, but her participation following Euro-2023 remains uncertain.
Iliana Rupert was injured on Sunday early evening, on a counter-attack in the middle of the second quarter during the third and last match, without stake, of the first round of Euro-2023 against Slovenia (victory 73 to 68).
The 21-year-old Frenchwoman, a key player for Les Bleues for many years, joined the Ljubljana hospital for initial examinations on Sunday. “Iliana Rupert took additional exams on Monday in Ljubljana. These examinations did not reveal any major lesion”, indicated the French Federation in a press release.
Rupert will follow “daily care with the medical staff by the quarter-final on Thursday. The question of his participation will be studied in the coming days,” added the FFBB. Rupert’s presence for the rest of the competition is therefore uncertain.
“She is an important player in our team, she has versatility in the indoor or outdoor game. It is the soul of the team, it is one of the old despite its young age, with Marine Fauthoux “six months his senior, had reacted Sunday evening the French coach Jean-Aimé Toupane after the victory against Slovenia.
French basketball players are looking for a third continental title after 2001 and 2009, and above all want to put an end to five consecutive lost finals (against Spain in 2013, 2017 and 2019, against Serbia in 2015 and 2021).
Qualified for the quarter-finals of Euro-2023 thanks to their flawless run (three complicated victories against Germany, Great Britain and Slovenia), they will face Thursday in Ljubljana the winner of the dam between Montenegro and Portugal. Italy, which takes place on Monday evening in Tel Aviv (8:00 p.m. French).