Andrea Mazzon explains defeat: “Elif Bayram’s injury affected the game”

Turkey’s women’s national basketball team left the FIBA 2026 World Cup at the group stage after a 75-71 defeat by Puerto Rico in its final Group C game. Coach Andrea Mazzon said Elif Bayram’s injury changed the course of the match.

Speaking at the post-game news conference in Berlin, Mazzon defended his players. “I will always protect my players. My players did everything they could,” he said. Bayram’s injury, he added, caused the team to lose energy, and her teammates were shocked when they saw her condition.

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I will always protect my players. My players did everything they could. Elif Bayram’s injury really changed the course of the game. We lost our energy.

Mazzon said the team had also dealt with injuries during its preparation, but he did not present them as the sole reason for the loss. Turkey had wanted to win the game badly, he said, while injuries and bad luck were also part of sport.

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We knew they would put up a good fight. There is not much more to say. Elif Bayram’s injury affected the game. Elif brings a different energy to the court. She was injured just as we found our rhythm. It was difficult to lose Elif against a tough team like Puerto Rico. We tried to find a solution somehow.

Sevgi Uzun said Turkey had expected a difficult game against a physical Puerto Rico team. Bayram brought a different energy to the side, Uzun said, and was injured just as Turkey was finding its rhythm. The team then tried to find a solution after losing her.

Uzun struggled to hold back tears while speaking about representing Turkey. She said she had worked throughout the summer to reach her best form and that the players had wanted, and deserved, to be at the tournament. But injuries had taken several players away, she said, and “if the circumstances had been different, we could have been in a better place.”

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Representing my country is very important to me. I worked all summer to reach my best form. We all really wanted to be here. We also deserved to be here. But then a lot happened. We lost some players because of injuries. If the circumstances had been different, we could have been in a better place.