Sept 11 (Reuters) - Holders France and menacing Serbia have emerged as favourites to reach the men's European basketball championship final and secure automatic berths for next year's Olympic Games when the tournament enters the knockout rounds on Saturday.
The two teams alongwith Greece finished the group stage, played in four different countries for the first time, with 5-0 records and the competition now moves to the French city of Lille for the remainder of the course.
Especially impressive were the Serbians, who brushed aside all their rivals in Berlin including heavyweights Spain and Italy to set up a last-16 meeting with Finland on Sunday.