WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
URUGUAY
1967
URUGUAY
FIBA ' s intention that the World Championship should be held every four years, alternating with the Olympics had been disrupted by the organisational problems in Chile in 1958.
The year could not be made up in the next edition because of the trouble in Manila, and hopes that things would go back to normal in Uruguay were dashed by the request of a postponement from the Uruguayan authorities who did not want the tournament to coincide with the general election being held at the end of 1966.
Despite this request being granted the fact that Uruguay was still in no condition to organise an event of this magnitude was clear to all the delegations who attended the fifth edition. The cities of Las Mercedes, Salto and Montevideo were selected to host the three groups in the first phase. The Argentine city of Cordoba was to hold the consolation phase while the final medal phase would be held in Montevideo in a larger arena than that used for the group phase which was unfortunately in poor condition. The organisers made no change to the tournament format. Three things stick in the memory about the first phase. Firstly was the toughness of Group A, held in Las Mercedes, secondly that Brazil was still one of the top basketball nations, and finally the emergence of the USSR as real gold medal candidates.
USA, Yugoslavia, Mexico and Italy met in Group A on the banks of the river that gives the country its name. This was a particularly vibrant group and all six matches provided a great deal of excitement. USA beat Italy( 67-56), Mexico( 75-65) and Yugoslavia( 76-71). The Balkan team beat both Italy( 71- 62) and Mexico( 86-73) while the latter had the consolation of defeating Italy( 78-60). At the time Mexico had a great team with Manuel Raga and Arturo Guerrero in starring roles. They showed their potential by winning all their matches in the consolation phase and if they had been drawn in any other group the could well have qualified for the final phase.
In Salto Brazil proved that their basketball was still one of the best in the world. They were the reigning world champions and bronze medallists from the previous Tokyo Olympics. They still had their stars Amaury Pasos and Ubiratan Pereira who were joined by the excellent Luis“ Mosquito” Menon and Carlos Massoni. They beat both the Paraguayans and the Puerto Ricans by over thirty points and beat Poland by sixteen and cruised through to the next round.
Montevideo witnessed the exploits of the powerful Soviet Union. Alexander Gromelski ' s rejuvenated team had a steady rock in their captain Gennadi Volnov and two young stars making their debuts in Modestas Paulaskas and Sergei Belov. They walked through this first phase, thrashing Argentina( 105-66), Peru( 84-46) and Japan( 95-56). Argentina beat the other two weak rival to return to the final phase of a World Championship
FREEZING TEMPERATURES
Moving the tournament dates from December 1966 to May 1967 had an unpleasant consequence, the intense cold in Uruguay at this time of year. The organisers had not foreseen this when requesting the postponement. The games were held in a 15,000 capacity converted warehouse with a domed roof that was as artistic as it was ineffective. There was no heating or insulation at all and the temperature was bordering 0 º C. Whether the 15,000 seats were filled or not a cloud of body
195 FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ