体坛英语新闻：Field finalized for 2013 European basketball championship

LONDON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The 24-team field of the 2013 European basketball championship EuroBasket has been completed on Tuesday as Serbia, Sweden, Latvia, Belgium and Turkey made the final cut.

Latvia reached an 85-77 victory in Romania to finish with a 5-3 record in Group D and secure qualification as one of the four best third-placed teams in the Qualification Round.

Turkey meanwhile dominated the Czech Republic, 81-58, to take second place in Group F and book their ticket to the EuroBasket in style.

In Group E, Belgium took a comfortable 82-46 win in Albania and just like the Latvians, finished with a 5-3 record and earned qualification as one the four best third-place sides.

Group B saw a much more dramatic final day, with Sweden earning a place at next summer's showpiece event thanks to a combination of their 85-68 victory in Albania and Azerbaijan's 81-68 loss to Germany, within minutes of each other.

Sweden, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria all finished tied at 4-4 but the Swedes took second place in the group and clinched qualification thanks to their better points differential in the three-way tie.

As the last berth went to Group A, Serbia managed to overcome Israel 83-67 to take third place in the group over the Estonians.

The five teams that booked their tickets on the final day, along with Montenegro, Israel, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Poland, Finland, Italy and the Czech Republic, who had already secured a place before the final gameday, are the 16 teams that advance to EuroBasket 2013 from the Qualification Round.

They will join the eight teams who had qualified directly to the 24-team event: Reigning European champions Spain, France, Russia, Macedonia, Lithuania, Greece, Slovenia and 2012 Olympics hosts Britain.