LONDON (Olympics) - The Olympic Basketball Tournament tipped off on Saturday in front of a packed house that was there from the start of play at 9am and all the way through the last game of the day between hosts Great Britain and Australia at the Basketball Arena.

The women got the action underway with leading names from the basketball world - players past and present as well as leading officials - on hand.

Turkey, making their debut in Women's Olympic Basketball, got off to a winning start by beating Angola. The result was made all the more special as Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on hand to watch.

France point guard Tony Parker and his team-mates from the men's national team sat in the stands to encourage their female counterparts who beat Brazil in their tournament opener.

Brazil had a legend of their own in the crowd as in high-scoring machine and FIBA Hall of Fame inductee Oscar Schmidt.

Finally, the FIBA Family was also well represented with FIBA Secretary General Emeritus Mr Borislav Stankovic looking on. He was joined by FIBA Secretary General and IOC member Patrick Baumann.

"It's a great pleasure to be here today and to see so many people on hand to witness the start of the Olympic Basketball Tournament," said Baumann.

"The fact that so many people turned out is proof that women's basketball is very popular and has a strong following."

FIBA