Costas Missas

GYMNASTICS: Olympian Lefteris Petrounias made it six out of six this year in the rings winning at the Challenge Cup in Paris with what he claimed was a performance equal to what gave him the gold medal at the  Rio de Janeiro Olympics last year. He has remained unbeaten since and is the favorite for gold in the upcoming World Championship.

Greece bowed out of the 2017 Eurobasket going down 74-69 to Russia in Wednesday's quarterfinal, as its poor shooting rate in free throws cost the national team dearly in Istanbul.

The poor contribution of the bench forced coach Costas Missas to rely mostly on just seven players for the game against a more complete side that Russia generally is.

Greek hoopsters upset favorite Lithuania to win 77-64 on Saturday and qualify to the quarterfinals, after the best performance they had to date in the 2017 Eurobasket.

A convincing second half was enough for Greece to start the 2017 Eurobasket with a 90-61 win over Iceland in Helsinki on Thursday.

Having to play the entire tournament without its biggest star, Yiannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks due to a knee injury, the Greeks relied on his brother Thanasis and on the Greek league's stars to overcome the first obstacle in the group stage.

BASKETBALL: The Hellenic Basketball Federation confirmed on Tuesday the hiring of experienced coach Costas Missas to guide the national team starting with the 2017 Eurobasket this fall. On July 25 he will issue his first call-up of players.