British basketballers face a tough Sunday in the Toon

Team GB men face a vital home tie against Macedonia in Newcastle on Sunday (4.00pm) in the Eurobasket qualifiers which will decide whether Britain gets to exercise its host nation status in the London 2012 Olympics.

With basketball now being the only team sport in which Britain has still to be awarded a place in 2012, due to the International Body FIBA insisting that it must prove its worth, the pressure is really on for the British players to top their group and leave FIBA with no option other than to include them.

With hazardous away trips to Macedonia, the Ukraine and Bosnia, it is essential that GB win their home games and pick up some away points as well.

They started perfectly by beating Hungary 91-82 in Budapest on Monday night, taking a first half 14-point lead, then going four down only to recover well in the final quarter behind.

The disappointment was that Scotland's only representative, Kieron Achara, had only three minutes on court before being withdrawn by coach Chris Finch.

Sunday's game is at the spanking new facility at Newcastle's Northumbria University - the city really is spoilt for choice now with the Arena there as well - and Scottish fans must rue the absence of a suitable venue which has apparently cost us the chance to host one of these qualifiers.

GB women, like the men, have had a set of indifferent results in their warm-up games for Eurobasket but a fine series win over Israel in Tel Aviv this week has boosted the morale both of the players and of their Aussie coach Tom Maher, who has changed their style into a much more aggressive, tough defence-oriented approach.

The women, who must have taken heart from the GB Under-20 team's victory over Slovakia in the recent Euro B Final, open against Slovakia seniors at the NIA in Birmingham tomorrow week, part of a double-header with the men's fourth game, against Ukraine.

Edinburgh Kool Kat Rose Anderson is the only Scot in the team.