Tarasava moves closer to return after being named in latest Belarus squad
MINSK (2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Belarus have whittled down their preliminary squad to 16 players for the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) in Nantes and Aliaksandra Tarasava is still in the reckoning for a spot in the team as she battles back from a serious knee injury.
| Belarus 16-player squad for 2016 FIBA WOQT | |||
| Natallia Anufryienka | Maryia Filonchyk | Lindsey Harding | Maryna Ivashchanka |
| Sviatlana Kudrashova | Yelena Leuchanka | Tatsiana Likhtarovich | Kseniya Malashka |
| Maryia Papova | Yuliya Rytsikava | Katsiaryna Snytsina | Aliaksandra Tarasava |
| Nataliya Trafimava | Tatyana Troina | Anastasiya Verameyenka | Volha Ziuzkova |
Tarasava was supposed to be the starting point guard on the Belarus team for all of their games at the 2014 FIBA Women's World Championship but she lasted just five minutes of the opening clash with Korea before tearing her ACL.
Head coach Anatoli Buyalski has 2008 Olympians Yelena Leuchanka, Anastasiya Verameyenka, Katsiaryna Snytsina, Tatyana Troina, Tatsiana Likhtarovich and Nataliya Trafimava still in this summer's squad.
Belarus will go into the WOQT with a FIBA World Ranking Women of No. 10. They finished fourth at last year's EuroBasket Women and claimed a spot in the WOQT. Though the team had a roller-coaster 2015, Buyaslski's side did get the vitally victory it had to have in the Quarter-Final against Lithuania to seal a place in the WOQT.
In Nantes, Belarus will compete in Group C against Korea and Nigeria. A top-two finish would allow them to advance and face a team from Group D - Spain, China or Venezuela - with an Olympic berth on the line. A loss in that game would leave Buyalski's side needing two more wins to progress to Rio de Janeiro.
FIBA
