Hunt for the Olympic dream to begin for Croatia and Serbia

Sunday, 03. July 2016 at 12:21

The senior men's national teams of Croatia and Serbia are about to begin their battle for a spot at the Olympic Basketball Tournament in Rio de Janeiro. Croatia will compete at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin, Italy, while Serbia will do it at home in Belgrade.

The senior men's national teams of Croatia and Serbia are about to begin their battle for a spot at the Olympic Basketball Tournament in Rio de Janeiro. Croatia will compete at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin, Italy, while Serbia will do it at home in Belgrade.

The moment of truth is coming up for both Croatia and Serbia senior men"s national teams, which will compete for a spot at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Rio de Janeiro at the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in Turin and Belgrade.

The task will not be an easy one, since out of six teams at each tournament only one will grab themselves a ticket for the big event.

Croatia, led by Aleksandar Petrović from the bench, will battle against the hosts Italy and Tunisia in Group B at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin. If they make it through the group, their possible opponents will be Greece, Iran or Mexico.

In Belgrade, Serbia with Aleksandar Đorđević at the helm, will compete in Group A alongside Puerto Rico and Angola. In the latter stages of the tournament, their opponents could also become Latvia, the Czech Republic or Latvia.

Head coaches of both teams have already selected the 12 players for each of the teams to compete at the tournaments and it"s worth mentioning that no less than 8 of the 24 selected players of both teams have played in the ABA League last season.

Croatia squad for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin: Luka Babić, Filip Krušlin, Rok Stipčević, Krunoslav Simon, Mario Hezonja, Dario šarić, Roko Leni Ukić, Darko Planinić, Miro Bilan, Željko šakić, Marko Arapović and Bojan Bogdanović.

Serbia squad for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade: Miloš Teodosić, Marko Simonović, Nemanja Dangubić, Bogdan Bogdanović, Stefan Marković, Nikola Kalinić, Nemanja Nedović, Stefan Birčević, Miroslav Raduljica, Nikola Jokić, Vladimir štimac and Stefan Jović.
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