Olympic Women's Basketball qualifying tournament ready for tip off in Madrid

(BEIJING, June 8) -- The 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament For Women will tip off at 12:45 p.m. local time on June 9 in Madrid, Spain. The first match is between host-country Spain and Fiji.

Twelve teams will take part in the tournament, including Angola, Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Czech Republic, Fiji, Japan, Latvia, Senegal and Spain. They will compete for the last five spots in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Women's Basketball tournament. Seven teams have already qualified for the tournament: China, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Mali, New Zealand, Russia and the U.S.A.

A detailed tournament schedule is available at www.Madrid2008.fiba.com.