Sandra Ygueravide (Valencia, 12-28-84) played her second game with the Women’s National Team on Thursday. “I am very happy to be back, although I almost feel new”, confesses the base that, yes, is very used to defending the Spain shirt. She is one of the leaders of the 3×3 team, European champion in 2021 and who was about to play the Tokyo Games a couple of summers ago. “There is a thorn stuck in it, because we stayed at the gates, but now we have the goal of being in Paris 2024 ″, she says.
Sandra, what has returned this season to the Women’s League with Lointek Gernika, had played another match with Spain in November 2016 (against Finland). “It was similar to the matches we faced this week. Spain was already classified and they were matches in which we had to look more for ourselves, focus on continuing to grow in the summer, not on the other teams”. That year Spain hung the Olympic silver in Rio.
With Laia Palau, Silvia Domínguez, Cristina Ouviña, Maite Cazorla, Leticia Romero… The point guard position has always been one of the most expensive in the National Team. “We are too many for so few positions -he laughs- but it is very well covered. Everything that those of us who are new can contribute will be good for the team, although I did not expect to be able to return, also because in the end I am very involved in 3×3. The first time Miguel (Méndez) called me, he surprised me, but he explained things to me very well, he told me that he was interested in seeing me, that I was with the group”.
Ygueravide has been quite a globetrotter. He left the Spanish League in 2013 and during this time He has played in France, Turkey, Hungary, Russia, Poland and Ecuador. But this year it’s back. “The desire to return has come together a bit with the desire that Gernika had for him to return. When you have been away for a long time, little by little you get closer to home. Besides, Gernika’s project is exciting, because of the group of players and for having Anna Montañana as coach”. From his experiences abroad, which allowed him, among other things, to win a Eurocup with the Russian Nadezhda Orenburg, stays with the positive. “Knowing how to adapt, living with people from other countries, other cultures… makes you grow as a player and as a person.” In addition, she believes that having played so much abroad has not harmed her, quite the contrary. “When you are away they see you less, but it has made me grow. It’s more, maybe those experiences abroad have made me here this week with the National Team ”.
A 4×4 player, halfway between 3×3 and traditional basketball, which is clear which modality he would choose if they were not compatible. “Right now I would play 3v3. It engages a lot, the games are faster, there are many more spaces… When you return to traditional basketball, you have plenty of people, you lack space, ”he laughs.
His idyll with 3×3 began in 2016 when Anna Junyer, selector of this modality, asked him if he wanted to try. “I did it, I loved it and so far.” Her summers, with her suitcase on her back, have allowed her to play in incomparable settings around the world, as happened to her in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. “When you play you don’t realize it, but when we see photos you think ‘oh my gosh, how wonderful’. It is a claim for people to get hooked ”.
Number 1. Ygueravide, current number 9 in the FIBA ranking, became the best in the world for a few months. “The ranking is a bit like tennis, but in this case you not only depend on yourself but also on the team. Going back to number one is not something I have in mind, but when it happened it was a joy and also a surprise. The goal is to be in the Games”. Hence, another busy summer awaits him. “There isn’t much rest, but we like it and that’s why it’s not an effort for us, even if we spend the whole summer from one place to another. This summer, in addition, is going to be even more intense because it is prior to the Olympic event. we play a lot”. Therefore, we put you in a commitment. Eurobasket this summer or 3×3 at the next Games? “Hopefully both, but with I would love to play the Olympics in 3×3”.
