Czechoslovakia returned to European competition with EuroBasket 1946. They started off well in a tournament notably lacking the Baltic countries that had dominated the pre-war competitions. Defeating Switzerland and then Belgium, the Czechoslovak team placed first in the preliminary round group of three. They moved on to the semifinal round, facing the Hungarians. A 42–28 win secured a place in the championship game for Czechoslovakia. In that game, they played the undefeated Italy. After training 18–21 at halftime, Czechoslovakia came back to win the game 34–32 to win their first European championship.