The 1959 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1959, was the eleventh

FIBA EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

regional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

championship, held by

FIBA Europe FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all List of men's national basketball teams#FIBA Europe, 50 national European basketball federations. ...

. The tournament, which was hosted by

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, began on 21 May 1959 and concluded with the final on 31 May 1959. Seventeen national teams affiliated with the

International Basketball Federation The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the equipment and facilities required, ...

(FIBA) entered the competition. Mithat Paşa Stadium,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

was the location of the event. The

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

claimed their fifth EuroBasket title, while

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

captured the silver, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

the bronze.

Results

First round

In the preliminary round, the 17 teams were split up into four groups. One of the groups had five teams, with the other three having four each. The top two teams in each group advanced to the final round, while the other nine teams were relegated to classification play.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Classification round 1

The first classification round was played in three round-robin groups. The first place from each group advanced to the second round to define the 9th–11th places, the second from each group, the 12th–14th and the remaining teams, the 14–17th places in the final standings.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Classification round 2

Group 1 (9th–11th Place)

Group 2 (12th–14th Place)

Group 3 (15th–17th Place)

Semi-final round

The Semi-Final round consisted of two round-robin groups, where the top two from each one advanced to the Final Round to decide the first four places in the final standings, and the remaining teams, the 5th–8th places.

Group 1

Group 2

Final round

*Two groups of four teams determined the 1st–8th places. Results from matches between teams that shared a group in Semi-Final round were carried over to this round (i.e. Soviet Union vs. Hungary, France vs. Czechoslovakia, etc.).

Group 1 (1st–4th Place)

Group 2 (5th–8th Place)

Final standings

Team rosters

1. Soviet Union:

Jānis Krūmiņš Jānis Krūmiņš (30 January 1930 – 20 November 1994) was a Soviet-Latvian professional basketball player. Helped by his height (about 220 cm, or 7'3"), he was the first giant center that dominated under European baskets, for years. As ...

, Gennadi Volnov, Maigonis Valdmanis,

Valdis Muižnieks Valdis Muižnieks (February 22, 1935 – November 29, 2013) was a Latvian basketball player. Muižnieks was born in Riga. He played for Rīgas ASK and won 3 Euroleague titles (1958, 1959, 1960) and 4 Soviet national championships (1955, 1956, ...

Viktor Zubkov Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov ( rus, Ви́ктор Алексе́евич Зубко́в, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ zʊpˈkof; born 15 September 1941) is a Russian civil servant, politician and businessman who served as the List of h ...

, Arkady Bochkarov, Yuri Korneev, Guram Minashvili, Mikhail Semyonov, Aleksandr Petrov, Vladimir Torban, Mikhail Studenetski (Coach: Stepan Spandaryan) 2. Czechoslovakia:

Jiří Baumruk Jiří Baumruk (27 June 1930 – 23 November 1989) was a Czech professional basketball player and coach. Club career Baumruk spent his club career playing with Slavia Prague (1952–1953), and namely with Sparta Prague (1950–1951, 1954–196 ...

František Konvička František Konvička (born August 11, 1938 in Okříšky, Czechoslovakia) is a former Czech professional basketball player and coach. At 6'3 " tall (1.92 m), he played at the small forward position. Playing career Club career Konvička spent his ...

, Bohumil Tomášek,

Miroslav Škeřík Miroslav Škeřík (14 October 1924 – 11 January 2013) was a Czechs, Czech professional basketball player. At 6'5 " (1.97 m) tall, he played the center (basketball), center position. He was the FIBA EuroBasket Top Scorer, top scorer of EuroBaske ...

, Jaroslav Šíp, Boris Lukášik, Jaroslav Křivý, Dušan Lukášik,

Zdeněk Rylich Zdeněk Rylich (7 March 1931 – 3 September 2024) was a Czech basketball player. He was voted to the List of the best Czech basketball players of the 20th century, Czechoslovakian 20th Century Team in 2001. With the senior Czechoslovakian nati ...

Jiří Šťastný Jiří Šťastný (born 13 December 1938) is a Czech basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as ...

Jaroslav Tetiva Jaroslav Tetiva (alternate spelling: Tětiva; 4 February 1932 – 2 March 2021) was a Czech basketball player. He was voted to the Czechoslovakian 20th Century Team in 2001. With the senior Czechoslovakian national team, Tetiva competed in th ...

Bohuslav Rylich Bohuslav Rylich (5 May 1934 – July 2020) was a Czech basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly kno ...

(Coach: Gustáv Herrmann) 3. France: Henri Grange, Robert Monclar,

Maxime Dorigo Maxime Dorigo (born 2 September 1936) is a French basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics, 1960 Summer Olympics. He was inducted into the French Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. He was ...

, Philippe Baillet, Christian Baltzer, Andre Chavet, Jerome Christ, Jean-Claude Lefebvre, Bernard Mayeur, Michel Rat, Lucien Sedat, Henri Villecourt (Coach:

Robert Busnel Robert Busnel (19 September 1914 – 15 March 1991) was a French professional basketball player, coach, and administrator. During his playing career, the 1.92 m (6'3 ") tall Busnel, played at the power forward position. He was made an Officer o ...

) 4. Hungary: János Greminger, Tibor Zsíros,

László Bánhegyi László Bánhegyi (17 January 1931 – 24 December 2015) was a Hungarian basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 1960 Summer Olympics. References

1931 births 2015 deaths Hungarian ...

Tibor Czinkán Tibor Czinkán (10 August 1929 – 20 December 2013) was a Hungarian basketball player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known ...

László Gabányi László Gabányi (15 May 1935 – 16 June 1981) was a Hungarian basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics. References External links

* 1935 births 1981 deaths ...

János Simon János Simon (; 1 March 1929 – 31 October 2010) was a Hungarian basketball player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and 1960 Summer Olympics. He was born in Budapest-Budafok. Simon was part of the Hungarian basketball team, whi ...

, János Bencze, Zoltán Judik, Ottó Temesvári, Miklós Boháty,

Árpád Glatz Árpád Glatz (5 January 1939 – 5 December 2000) was a Hungarian basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 () ...

, Merényi (Coach:

János Páder János is a masculine Hungarian given name. It originates from the Hebrew name Johanan and is thus a variant of the English name John. People Notable people with the name include: * János Aczél (mathematician) (1924–2020), Hungarian-C ...

) 9. Yugoslavia: Miodrag Nikolić, Marjan Kandus, Branko Radović, Slobodan Gordić, Igor Jelnikar, Matja Dermastija, Milutin Minja,

Ivo Daneu Ivo Daneu (born 6 October 1937) is a retired Slovenian professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach. During his playing career, at a height of tall, he played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. He represented the Yug ...

, Nemanja Đurić,

Radivoj Korać Radivoj Korać ( sr-cyrl, Радивој Кораћ; 5 November 1938 – 2 June 1969) was a Yugoslav professional basketball player. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. Korać is well-known for holding t ...

, Radovan Radović, Boris Kristančič (Coach:

Aleksandar Nikolić Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić ( sr-cyr, Александар "Аца" Николић; 28 October 1924 – 12 March 2000) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He was also a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of S ...

)

External links

EuroBasket 1959 archive.fiba.com
{{Eurobasket

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

1958–59 in European basketball Sports competitions in Istanbul 1959 in Turkish sport

1959 EuroBasket The 1959 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1959, was the eleventh FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Turkey, began on 21 May 1959 and concluded ...

1950s in Istanbul May 1959 sports events in Europe