Crvendakic to lead Serbia charge once again
BELGRADE (FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship) – One of the best youth basketball stars, Aleksandra Crvendakic is ready for an incredible third appearance at the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship.
BELGRADE (FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship) – One of the most prominent stars of youth basketball in Europe, Aleksandra Crvendakic is bearing down on an incredible third appearance at the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship.
The forward is set to complete a hat-trick of appearances at the tournament as she brings her sparkling youth career with Serbia to a close. Crvendakic is the main name on her country’s 16-player initial candidate list for Matosinhos next month.
| Serbia 16-player squad for FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship: | |||
| Ana Ilic | Kristina Arsenic | Snezana Bogicevic | Aleksandra Crvendakic |
| Tijana Cukic | Danijela Dimitrijevic | Jovana Jovovic | Aleksandra Katanic |
| Jovana Nogic | Carna Prokic | Anja Spasojevic | Bojana Stevanovic |
| Jovana Subasic | Julijana Vojinovic | Jovana Vucetic | Katarina Zec |
In previous editions of the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship she has defied having to compete against older opponents and come out with some stellar numbers – including 18 points per game last year in Lanzarote, which was the second best of the tournament. It’s little wonder Crvendakic is pushing hard for a dream step up to the Rio-bound senior team.
Crvendakic had a productive first year at the highest level in EuroLeague Women
The Loznica-native will also head into the tournament having re-signed for another season at UE Sopron in Hungary, where she recently completed a superb rookie season in EuroLeague Women which further enhanced her soaring reputation.
She will be joined by her fellow returnees in Tijana Cukic, Anja Spasojevic, Danijela Dimitrijevic and Julijana Vojinovic. Meanwhile stepping up from last summer’s U18 side are joint leading scorers Jovana Nogic and Kristina Arsenic.
"All players will appear on the first roll call, so from the first day we can go full steam ahead," stated head coach Bogdan Bulj, who will take his team into Group B against Germany, Italy and Sweden.
"Our goal is to accelerate the process of transition of these girls into senior basketball, so that some of them could compete for selection by November.
"We have enough time to prepare well for all the temptations that await us.
"We are in quite a difficult group where Italy is certainly the favourite. We played Germany last year, while Sweden is a returnee from Division B.
"It is still too early to forecast, but we will have a real insight into our capabilities after a preparation tournament in the Czech Republic.
"In any case, we will do everything to go into the championship game by game, with the maximum engagement and access at every step," added the play-caller.
FIBA