Belarus, Latvia qualify for women's basketball in Olympics

MADRID, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Belarus and Latvia joined Spain and the Czech Republic in the Beijing Olympics after their quarter-final victories in the women's Olympic qualifying tournament here on Friday.

Belarus stunned Brazil 86-79 as Natallia Marchanka and Anastasiya Verameyenka scored 21 and 19 points respectively, winning in overtime against the 2004 Olympics' fourth-placed finishers.

Belarus levelled at 72-72, and ran away 14-7 in the extra period to reach the Olympics for the first time.

Brazil lost captain Iziane Castro Marques who refused to enter the second half after an argument with coach Paulo Bassul at the interval.

"As a leader I have to make difficult decisions. She didn't just say no to me, but to the group and the country. I don't know about the future," Bassul told reporters.

Latvia crushed Angola 84-26 to make the Olympics for the first time, after going on a 17-point scoring run in the second quarter.

However, experienced forward Ieva Tare dislocated her elbow early in the second half.

Earlier, the Czech Republic and Spain booked their places with straight-forward wins.

The Czechs, who beat Spain in the fifth-place play-off game in Athens in 2004, overturned a 10-point deficit before overcoming Japan 76-64.

Forward Eva Viteckova and shooting guard Hana Machova led the way notching 26 and 19 points respectively.

Spain, the European championship silver medallists, scored an 82-68 victory over Cuba.

Elisa Aguilar, the veteran point guard, sank a game-high 28 points, with 17 coming in the second quarter, and was supported by Amaya Valdemoro with 18.

Four quarter-final winners qualify directly, while the four losers play off in semi-finals on Saturday when Cuba will play Japan, and Angola will take on Brazil.

The winners will meet in the final on Sunday to play-off for the fifth and final qualification slot.

Qualifiers join hosts China, world champions Australia, gold medal holders US, Mali, Republic of Korea, Russia, and New Zealand for the Olympics in August.