The draws for the London 2012 Olympic Basketball tournaments were made confirming the Group Stages for the Mens and Womens tournaments. Mens tournament sees hosts Great Britain face 2008 Olympic Silver medallists Spain, while 2008 Olympic Champions USA face world number three Argentina and the Womens tournament sees Olympic Silver medallists Australia meet European champions Russia, while 2008 Olympic Champions USA face Asia champions China The draw produced some interesting games for the group stages. The Mens Tournament will include hosts Great Britain against European champions and Beijing silver medallists Spain, while Olympic champions and world number one USA will face Beijing bronze medallists and world number three Argentina. In the Womens tournament, current European champions and Beijing bronze medallists Russia will face Beijing silver medallists Australia, while Olympic champions and world number one USA will face current Asia champions China. Great Britains Womens team will face world number two Australia in their first game. The Mens and Womens Olympic Basketball tournaments will each feature 12 teams. For the Mens competition, nine teams have already qualified for London 2012 with the remaining three places to be decided at an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Venezuela from the 2nd8th July. For the Womens competition, seven teams have already qualified with the remaining five places to be decided at an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Turkey from the 25th June to 1st July. Todays draw hosted by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in Rio saw teams drawn into two groups for the Preliminary rounds of the Mens and Womens tournament. The confirmed draws for the group stages are: Olympic Mens tournament: Group A Argentina France Tunisia USA 2 remaining qualifiers Group B Australia Brazil China Great Britain Spain 1 remaining qualifier (The remaining 3 qualifiers for the Mens tournament will be decided at the Olympic qualifying tournament featuring Angola, Dominican Republic, Greece, Jordan, Korea, Lithuania, FYROM, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Russia and Venezuela a draw on the final day of the qualifying tournament on July 8th will determine which of the 3 qualifying teams join which groups) Olympic Womens tournament: Group A Angola, China, USA 3 remaining qualifiers Group B Australia, Brazil, Great Britain, Russia 2 remaining qualifiers (The remaining 5 qualifiers in the Womens tournament will be decided at the Olympic qualifying tournament featuring Argentina, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Korea, Mali, Mozambique, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Turkey a draw on the final day of the qualifying tournament on 1st July will determine which of the 5 qualifying teams join which groups) During the London 2012 Games, the Basketball Arena on the Olympic Park will host the Mens preliminary games and Womens event up to quarter final stage. The mens quarter-finals and womens semi-finals onwards will then move to the North Greenwich Arena. The Womens tournament tips-off with the first group game on Saturday 28 July, ending with the Womens Gold Medal game on Saturday 11th August. The Mens tournament tips-off with the first group game on Sunday 29th July, ending with the Mens Gold Medal game on Sunday 12th August.
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