The A National Women's Basketball Team, which will compete in the FIBA 2026 World Cup to be held in Berlin, the capital of Germany, from September 4-13, held its media day. Gülşah Akkaya, Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Basketball Federation, Alper Yılmaz, Director of National Teams, Andrea Mazzon, Head Coach of the A National Women's Basketball Team, and player Olcay Çakır Turgut attended the media day at the Turkcell Basketball Development Center.

Gülşah Akkaya, Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Basketball Federation, stated that they are proud to represent the country in the World Cup. Akkaya said, "Our goal is to achieve the best result and be a team that the Turkish people will be proud of." Emphasizing that the team is young and dynamic, Akkaya stated, "Our average age in this generation is 26. We are a young team. We have reached our initial goals step by step." She added that President Hidayet Türkoğlu and the board of directors fully support the team.

Alper Yılmaz, Director of National Teams, stated that the team has been in camp since August 3. Yılmaz said, "The girls came more prepared than we expected. They are aware of the importance of the World Cup." Stating that they are in a tough group, Yılmaz said, "We also want to gain the home-court advantage in the matches in Berlin. We will do better with the spectators."

Andrea Mazzon: "We will do everything we can and be ready"

Andrea Mazzon, Head Coach of the A National Women's Basketball Team, stated that preparations are going well. Mazzon said, "Currently, we are at a level of 7 out of 10. Our upcoming training sessions will prepare us for the tournament." Expressing his satisfaction with the facilities provided by the Federation, Mazzon emphasized the importance of the support from Turkish spectators in Germany. The Head Coach stated, "We should be proud to be one of the top 16 teams in the world. We will do everything we can and be ready." Regarding group strategy, Mazzon commented, "First, we need to think about ourselves. Our team must also understand that everyone should be worried about us." Mazzon also addressed the issue of WNBA players joining the national team late, saying, "They can arrive five days before the World Cup starts, but I don't think this benefits national teams."

Olcay Çakır Turgut: "I believe we are walking towards our goal step by step"

National player Olcay Çakır Turgut said that preparations are going well and they are progressing towards their goals step by step. Turgut said, "It was very important to participate in the World Cup after a long break. Now, the next step is to advance from the group." Referring to the tough group matches, Turgut stated that Belgium and Australia are strong opponents. Emphasizing that the Puerto Rico match is critical for advancing from the group, Turgut said, "We are a cohesive team. We really enjoy spending time together, and this reflects on the court." She also drew attention to the harmony among the young players.

Open training session held for the press

Following the media day, the A National Women's Basketball Team held an open training session for the first 15 minutes. At the beginning of the training, Head Coach Andrea Mazzon gathered the team and gave a speech. Afterwards, the players performed passing and shooting drills in groups.