Hamzová and Čechová become first Czech players in 16 years to join WNBA

Basketball players Eliška Hamzová and Emma Čechová have become the first Czech women in 16 years to earn places in the WNBA, the top women’s basketball league in the United States. Both secured one-year contracts during training camp with the Minnesota Lynx.

The new WNBA season got underway on Friday, with Minnesota set to open its campaign against Atlanta overnight on Saturday. The last Czech player to appear in the league was Jana Veselá, who won the WNBA title with Seattle in 2010.

Twenty-four-year-old Hamzová is also following in the footsteps of her mother Romana, who played for Orlando in the league in 2000.