Preview: Groups C & D

MUNICH (FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017 Qualifiers) - The road to EuroBasket Women 2017 tips off at the weekend and we take a look at those involved - next up are Groups C & D which contain the reigning EuroBasket Women champions.

Montenegro came within a whisker of reaching the semi-finals earlier this summer at the 2015 Final Round - but just couldn't get a winning basket to drop in crunch time against Spain. Even without Jelena Dubljevic for much of the competition, they continued to deliver. Their main driving force will be back and helped in the paint by the naturalised Angelica Robinson and similarly powerful Iva Perovanovic.

With the veteran Jelena Skerovic still pulling the strings in the backcourt alongside Snezana Aleksic, head coach Momir Milatovic has oodles of continuity.

Montenegro will be favourites to finish top of the heap in Group C, with Great Britain and Italy looking to push them hard. Both teams stumbled at the first hurdle at Final Round this summer and both have responded by appointing new play-callers.

Like Montenegro, Great Britain are also bidding to reach Final Round for the fourth consecutive time and have put their faith in Spaniard Jose Maria Buceta. He welcomes the return of Tango Bourges guard Johannah Leedham, but that is tempered by the absence of Temitope Fagbenle in the post.Buceta also has a string of long-serving Olympians including 125-cap legend, Stef Collins, but he's looking to the future too, with rising stars such as WBBL Young Player of the Year, Savannah Wilkinson in the mix.

Italy will see Laura Macchi come back into the fold and that is a big boost for new coach Andrea Capobianco, who must deal with losing the valuable height of Kathrin Ress under the hoop.

Macchi and her Beretta Famila Schio team-mates Raffaella Masciadri, Giorgia Sottana and the emerging teenager Cecilia Zandalasini form the backbone and their EuroLeague Women minutes will combine to give Italy a big chance of success in the group.

It is a daunting task for Albania who have no recognised pedigree at the top level. This is only the third year they will have even played above European Championship Women Group C and during their last campaign in Division B, they were beaten in all eight games - despite the best efforts of leading scorer Enisa Semanjaku.In Group D, Serbia are looking for a positive end to the greatest calendar year in their history after an historic climb to the top podium step at Final Round when they were crowned EuroBasket Women champions for the very first time.

MVP Ana Dabovic and sister Milica can bring the noise in the backcourt again, while the classy Sonja Petrovic has recovered from the injury which marred the start of her clubs season.

Danielle Page was drafted in as the first naturalised option for Serbia and it proved something of a masterstroke and she will provide a solid platform in the paint once again.

Ukraine have parted ways with Vadim Czeczuro, with his former assistant Volodymyr Kholopov is now in charge and hoping star player Alina Iagupova will fire their country to the next edition of the Final Round. A homesick Iagupova recently quit Mithra Castors Braine only weeks after debuting in EuroLeague Women.

Ukraine must also once again rely on others to support Iagupova - including Kateryna Dorogobuzova and Aleksandra Khomenchuk who played that role at Final Round when the team were bitten by their heartbreaking one point loss against Czech Republic.

Germany played Ukraine during EuroBasket Women 2015 qualification and so there will be a familiar feel, as they look to improve on a previous campaign which promised so much but was littered with tight losses.

Bastian Wernthaler made a return to the coaching hot-seat earlier this year and he will be without the experienced Anne Breitreiner, so much will depend on their star performer Romy Bar, as well as the likes of Katharina Fikiel, Svenja Brunckhorst and Margret Skuballa.

Luxembourg went winless in the last qualifying series and yet are sticking to their belief that to improve in the long-term, they need to continue with match-ups against the very best.

Their latest attempt to increase their competitiveness and one day cause a major upset will be spearheaded by Cathy Schmit, Tessy Hetting and the outstanding teenage talent of Lisa Jablonowski.

FIBA