Sweden has started the qualifying round with two wins and will meet Estonia in Tallinn on Thursday and Great Britain in Malmö on Sunday.
With Frida Eldebrink on the team. The 36-year-old, who, together with her now injured twin sister Elin, actually said goodbye to the national team after the European Championship in the summer of 2021. Earlier the same season, their older sister Sofia had been diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia, an aggressive type of blood cancer.
It was a contributing factor to wanting to use the national team break during the season, to instead take the time to be with the family, says Frida Eldebrink.
In the spring of 2023, it was still a national team comeback in Globen, with Sofia and the nieces and nephews in the stands. But at the end of last year, Sofia passed away, just 40 years old.
She and her niece, who wasn't even a year old when we played the European Championship in France in 2013. Then they've been to all the European Championships except the one in Valencia, which didn't happen due to corona. She's been one of my biggest supporters, so it's of course a special feeling that she's no longer there, says Frida Eldebrink to TT over the phone.
Her sister's death has also become a reminder to try to live more in the present and in a way a contributing factor to why the guard star is now continuing in the national team where she debuted as a teenager.
I missed it during the year I wasn't there. And if I miss it – why shouldn't I be there then? I'm still playing basketball and they want me to be there, so it feels completely right. It becomes like that when life is turned upside down, you prioritize a little differently, you want to make the most of the time you have somehow.
After two seasons at home in Södertälje – and a Swedish championship gold in the spring – Frida Eldebrink has made the same journey this fall as she did for the first time 16 years ago. To professional life in France, this time the newcomer Chartres.
Maybe it will also be a fifth European Championship final round next summer.
It's going to be two extremely important matches this week. Estonia feels like a match we should win on paper, even though we have to go out and do the job. And Great Britain (which Sweden beat away) will maybe be the key match. If we take both, we'll have a very, very good chance of almost being completely clear for the European Championship, says Eldebrink.
Played matches: Great Britain (away, win 64–62), Denmark (home, win 76–69).
This week's matches: Estonia (away, Thursday), Great Britain (home, Sunday).
Remaining matches: Denmark (away, February 6), Estonia (home, February 9).
The winner of the group advances to the European Championship. The four best of the eight group runners-up will also play in the European Championship.
The European Championship 2025 will be played from June 18 to 29 in four different host cities: Piraeus (Greece), Bologna (Italy), Brno (Czech Republic), and Hamburg (Germany).
