Georgia stuns France to reach EuroBasket quarterfinals, Slovenia and Poland also advance

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Georgia advanced to the quarterfinals at the EuroBasket tournament for the first time with a dominant 80-70 win against France on Sunday.

France was runner-up to Spain in the 2022 final but both teams failed to reach the quarterfinal stage this time. Georgia will face Finland, which knocked out Nikola Jokic’s Serbia side on Saturday.

Georgia's players sprinted off the bench at the end of the round-of-16 match, hugging and jumping up and down as their fans banged drums and danced in the crowd in Riga, Latvia.

“Unbelievable. I’m really happy, congrats to my teammates, everyone, all our fans in Georgia and here," Georgia veteran Giorgi Shermadini said. "France are amazing, but today we played better in defense and offense.”

Olympic silver medalist France made only six of its 36 3-pointer attempts for a paltry average of 17% while Georgia scored from over half of its 3-pointers and punished France for frequently fouling by scoring 20 of 24 free throws.

Georgia led by one point at halftime and by nine early into the fourth quarter, with Barcelona forward Tornike Shengelia's blend of athleticism and raw power pressuring France's inexperienced defense.

France's scrappy offense failed to get Guerschon Yabusele — who scored 36 points against Poland during the group stage — into enough open play and he was too often pushed out wide.

Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 NBA draft pick last year, found some form as France dragged itself back into the game and, with three minutes left, the score was 68-68.

But France's wastefulness from 3-pointers ultimately proved costly as Les Bleus could not get on a run.

Shengelia was inspirational for Georgia with 24 points and eight rebounds, while American-born Kamar Baldwin also scored 24 for Georgia, which beat Spain during the group stage.

“We never stopped fighting, believing,” Shengelia said. “I want to thank the people who came this far to Riga to support us, we felt the extra energy.”

Point guard Sylvain Francisco top-scored with 14 points for France. Yabusele was restricted to 12 points and Risacher mustered only seven.

France coach Frédéric Fauthoux was without NBA star Victor Wembanyama — who has been dealing with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder — and key veterans like Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier.

Ultimately, Wembanyama’s absence combined with a new coach and new players proved too much.

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić scored 42 points and had 10 rebounds as Slovenia held off a fourth-quarter surge from Italy to win 84-77 and set up a quarterfinal match against World Cup winner Germany.

Slovenia led 29-11 at the end of the first quarter and Dončić reached 30 points by halftime — the fourth time this tournament that the star has scored at least 30 points in a game.

But Italy staged a stunning comeback and moved within one point of Slovenia with just under two minutes left.

Typically, the ice-cool Dončić then twice made both of his free throws to pass 40 points and keep Italy out of reach.

Shooting guard Jordan Loyd scored 28 points and forward Mateusz Ponitka had 19 points and 11 rebounds as Poland beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 80-72 to set up a quarterfinal against Turkey.

Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkić again led Bosnia and Herzegovina with 20 points and seven rebounds.

In the last round-of-16 match, Greece — which eliminated defending champion Spain in the group stage — beat Israel 84-79 to set up a quarterfinal match against three-time champion Lithuania.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo put in another dominating performance with 37 points and 10 rebounds.

The quarterfinals will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo scores during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship round of 16 match between Greece and Israel at the Riga Arena in Riga, Latvia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Slovenia's Luka Doncic tries to shoot while defended by Italy's Simone Fontecchio during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship round of 16 match between Italy and Slovenia at the Riga Arena in Riga, Latvia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Bosnia's Jusuf Nurkic, left, and Poland's Jordan Loyd in action during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship round of 16 match between Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Riga Arena in Riga, Latvia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

France's Zaccharie Risacher, centre, drives between Georgia's Tornike Shengelia, left, and Georgia's Giorgi Ochkhikidze during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship round of 16 match between France and Georgia at the Riga Arena in Riga, Latvia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Georgia's Tornike Shengelia, left, goes to score as Bosnia's Adin Vrabac, bottom right, and Edin Atic defend during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship Group C match between Bosnia and Georgia at Spyros Kyprianou Arena, in Limassol, Cyprus, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakis Savvides)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 17, 2025--

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY), a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, today announced the next three vertiports to be added to Dubai's electric air taxi network, alongside Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) and Skyports Infrastructure, who will be responsible for building the vertiports. The sites, at the American University of Dubai, Atlantis the Royal and the Dubai Mall, will enable Joby to deliver high-speed, emissions-free connections between some of Dubai’s most high-profile destinations, as part of its six-year exclusive agreement with the RTA to establish air taxi services in the Emirate.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251117321480/en/

The news comes as Joby successfully completed a landmark flight test, becoming the first electric air taxi company to conduct a point-to-point flight in the UAE. On Sunday 9 November, Joby landed its aircraft at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) following a 17-minute piloted flight from its test facility in Margham, underscoring Joby’s commercial market readiness and ability to operate in shared airspace. Tens of thousands of attendees will have the opportunity to see Joby’s aircraft in action at this week’s Dubai Airshow, with demonstration flights planned for each day of the show.

His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), stated that “the successful completion of the first crewed flight of the electric aerial taxi marks a new milestone in Dubai’s distinguished record of leadership and innovation. The successful completion by Joby Aviation of the first air taxi flight between two distinct locations underscores the success of RTA’s operational framework for developing Dubai’s aerial mobility ecosystem. This milestone paves the way for a new phase of integration among smart mobility systems across the emirate, further strengthening the confidence of global partners in Dubai’s regulatory and technological environment and establishing it as a leading global platform for future mobility trials.

“RTA is steadily progressing towards the commercial launch of the aerial taxi service in 2026, solidifying Dubai’s position as the city of the future and a global hub for innovative and sustainable urban mobility solutions, combining efficient infrastructure with high quality of life," His Excellency confirmed.

JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation,said: “From flight demonstrations to infrastructure, we're making incredible progress on all fronts as we look ahead to launching commercial passenger service in Dubai next year. By working alongside the RTA, other government agencies and infrastructure partners, we’ve been able to streamline development of the world’s first air taxi service and are closer than ever to making urban air transport an everyday reality for residents and visitors across the UAE.”

Today’s vertiport announcement brings together three major Dubai property developers - Emaar Properties, Atlantis The Royal, and Wasl Asset Management Group - to deliver a network of valuable and high-traffic sites across the emirate:

Alongside the vertiport at Dubai International Airport, which is set to be completed in the first quarter of 2026, these sites will make up the initial vertiport network for Joby’s air taxi service in Dubai, which is set to launch in 2026.

About Joby

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) is a California-based transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi. Joby intends to both operate its fast, quiet, and convenient air taxi service in cities around the world and sell its aircraft to other operators and partners. To learn more, visit www.jobyaviation.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the development and performance of our aircraft, the growth of our manufacturing capabilities, our regulatory outlook, progress and timing, including our plans to begin carrying passengers in 2026, timing and potential locations of our vertiports, and planned participation in the Dubai airshow; our business plan, objectives, goals and market opportunity; plans for, and potential benefits of, our strategic partnerships; and our current expectations relating to our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects, capital needs and growth of our operations. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “plan”, “intend”, “believe”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “can have”, “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. All forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including: our ability to launch our air taxi service and the growth of the urban air mobility market generally; our ability to produce aircraft that meet our performance expectations in the volumes and on the timelines that we project; complexities related to obtaining certification and operating in foreign markets; the competitive environment in which we operate; our future capital needs; our ability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property rights; our ability to effectively respond to evolving regulations and standards relating to our aircraft; our reliance on third-party suppliers and service partners; uncertainties related to our estimates of the size of the market for our service and future revenue opportunities; and other important factors discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 27, 2025, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 8, 2025 and August 7, 2025, and in future filings and other reports we file with or furnish to the SEC. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates and beliefs as of the date of this release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.

Joby’s air taxi en route from its flight test facility in Margham to Al Maktoum International Airport, marking the first electric air taxi company to conduct a point-to-point flight in the UAE. Credit: Joby Aviation