CELJE (2015 U18 European Championship Women) - The U18 European Championship Women kicked off in the Slovenian town of Celje on Thursday with a series of impressive individual performances, including one special birthday present.

The host nation celebrated guard Annamaria Prezelj's 18th birthday in style, with the 1.75 guard notching 26 points for a day to remember in their 72-56 victory over Serbia. In the other Group C match, Hungary were thankful to Agnes Studer, who grabbed the vital steal on the final play as they squeaked past Belgium 57-56.

Two of the tournament's big powers played out a rollercoaster encounter on opening night in Group B, with Spain taking the comeback 70-63 victory over Russia. The Spaniards trailed by 19 at half-time but came out firing in the third quarter, led by 19 points from Angela Salvadores and 18 from Maria Conde.

Carolina Goncalves was the top scorer on the first day of the tournament, racking up 30 points in an impressive 60-38 victory for Portugal over Poland in Group B's other match-up.

Yael Galili drained seven of her eight shots from behind the arc on her way to a game-high 23 points as Israel won their first U18 Division A match since 2004, beating Lithuania 79-58 in Group A. Alexia Chartereau scored 15 points and added three blocks as France beat Italy 65-51 in their Group A opener.

Croatia managed to withstand Czech Republic in the tournament's first match, easing to a 78-66 victory on the back of 29 points from Iva Slonjsak, who made a number of tough shots down the stretch after Ivana Dojkic fouled out.

Netherlands will be Croatia's next opponents in Group D, and they did not allow Estonia to enjoy their first ever match at this level, cruising to a comfortable 66-37 win behind Janis Ndiba's double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Go to http://u18women.fibaeurope.com/en/default.asp for complete coverage of the 2015 U18 European Championship Women.

FIBA