Estonia first competed internationally at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The team has made five appearances at the European Basketball Championship, the EuroBasket, with best results coming from 1937 and 1939, when the team finished in fifth place.
Estonia joined FIBA on 23 November 1934. Coached by Herbert Niiler, Estonia first competed internationally at the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, Germany, the first Olympic tournament to hold basketball as an official medal event. Estonia played in the opening match of the tournament, defeating France 34–29.[1] The team lost the subsequent second round match against the United States 28–52, but passed the consolation round and faced the Philippines in the third round, losing 22–39.
Estonia participated in the EuroBasket 1937. The team won their first game against Egypt 44–15, but failed to advance past the group stage after suffering a 15–20 defeat against Lithuania and a 20–30 defeat against Italy. Estonia placed fifth in the final rankings after defeating Czechoslovakia 30–20 and Latvia 41–19.[2]
The EuroBasket 1939 used a different format from the previous championship, with eight teams facing off in a round-robin tournament. Estonia finished the tournament with a 4–3 record and another fifth place. Heino Veskila was the tournament's scoring leader with 16.7 points per game.[1][3]
After the restoration of independence, the Estonian Basketball Association rejoined FIBA in 1991. The team competed in the EuroBasket 1993, held in Germany. Despite missing star players Martin Müürsepp and Tiit Sokk, the team, coached by Jaak Salumets won their group in the preliminary round, finishing ahead of hosts and eventual champions Germany, Slovenia and Belgium. In the second round, Estonia finished third in their group and advanced to the quarter-finals, where the team lost to Russia 61–82 and was knocked out. In the classification rounds, Estonia defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 99–91 and lost to Spain 80–119, finishing the championship in sixth place with a 6–5 record.[1]Aivar Kuusmaa was the team's scoring leader with 19.9 points per game.[4]
2000s–2010s
Estonia participated in the EuroBasket 2001, held in Turkey. Coached by Üllar Kerde, Estonia lost all three preliminary round matches against Germany, Yugoslavia and Croatia, failing to advance past the group stage and finishing the championship with a disappointing 0–3 record and a 14th place. Martin Müürsepp led the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game, while Margus Metstak made 6.0 rebounds per game, and Rauno Pehka and Tanel Tein averaged 2.7 assists per game.[5] After 2001, Estonia failed to qualify for another major basketball tournament for 14 years. The team competed in the FIBA EuroBasket 2011 Division B tournament, winning their group.
Coached by Tiit Sokk, Estonia qualified for the EuroBasket 2015, with preliminary round matches held in Riga, Latvia. Estonia's first two performances were poor as the team suffered heavy defeats in games against Czech Republic (57–80) and Belgium (55–84). However, the team bounced back with a 78–71 victory against Ukraine, their first EuroBasket victory since 1993.[6] The next game saw Estonia defeated by Lithuania 62–64 in a close game. In the final group phase game, Estonia played against Latvia, losing 64–75 and failing to advance to the knockout stage.[7] Estonia finished the championship in 20th place with a 1–4 record. Gregor Arbet was the team's scoring leader with 11.6 points per game, while Siim-Sander Vene averaged 6.4 rebounds and Sten Sokk contributed 4.2 assists per game.
(18 September 2018)
Herbert Niiler
Maarten van Gent
