HAVANA (2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - It's been 16 years since Cuba competed at an Olympics. The coach of the Caribbean island nation, Alberto Zabala, believes his side will have a great shot at stopping the rot when the team travels to France to play in next month's FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT).

Five places for the Rio de Janeiro Games will be up for grabs at the WOQT and Cuba's Zabala is hoping that his players can grab one of them.

Our players know the goal is to win the Olympic ticket, and there is a lot of optimism within the group. - Zabala

The 12-team WOQT runs from 13-19 June in Nantes. The islanders will need to win at least one game in the Group Phase to stay in the hunt. If they were to advance to the next phase, a Quarter-Final, and win that, it would qualify for Rio. A loss in a Quarter-Final would leave Cuba needing to win two more games to advance.

The last time Cuba played at a WOQT, eight years ago in Madrid, they fell to Brazil in a do-or-die game for Olympic qualification.

The Cubans have been drawn with tournament hosts France and New Zealand in Group A of this year's WOQT.

Talking to the local media, Zabala said it will be difficult to defeat EuroBasket Women 2015 runners-up France but expressed the belief that the Cubans can beat the Tall Ferns. The last time Cuba played at an Olympics, in 2000, they defeated the Tall Ferns. The teams are are completely different now, though.

Cuba were runners-up to hosts Canada at the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship. The Canadians, therefore snatched the direct qualifying spot for Rio.

Cuba started their preparations for the WOQT two months ago. Zabala will begin to get a very good idea of how competitive his team can be when they play a three-game warm-up series against Brazil, starting on Wednesday in the Brazilian city of Recife.

"We are focused on raising the technical level and the players' mentality and conditioning," Zabala said. "Everyone is concentrated and with great spirit."

The Cuban coach is of the opinion that his squad has caught a break with the WOQT schedule. He thinks it is favorable to his team.

Cuba will open their WOQT campaign against France on 13 June but then rest the following day. They will then take on the Tall Ferns on 15 June.

If they advance to the Quarter-Finals, Cuba will go up against one of the teams that finishes in the top two of Group B, which consists of Argentina, Cameroon, and Turkey.

"The schedule benefits us as we will have rested on the second day," Zabala said. "In other words, you will be rested for the match that should give us the pass to the Quarter-Finals.

"We haven't played against Turkey, but we are scouting them. We know they are a good team. They didn't finish fourth in the last [FIBA Women's] World Championship by accident.

We hope to celebrate [qualification to Rio] on 17 June, but if we don’t, we will have a second chance to compete for the fifth place. - Zabala

After their training camp in Brazil, Cuba will resume their preparations in Villa Clara before travelling to Spain to complete the build-up to the WOQT.

FIBA