FRA - Vincent to choose between Godin and Amant
LYON (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women) - Diandra Tchatchouang and Anael Lardy will not play for France at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women (OQTW). The coach of the Les Bleus has elected not to take youngster Tchatchouang, a former standout with the country's youth sides who was hoping to compete in her first major event with ...
LYON (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women) - Diandra Tchatchouang and Anael Lardy will not play for France at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women (OQTW).
The coach of the Les Bleus has elected not to take youngster Tchatchouang, a former standout with the country's youth sides who was hoping to compete in her first major event with the national team.
The 1.86m forward played for Lattes Montpellier this season, the side that finished runners-up in the play-off finals to Bourges.
Tchatchouang, 20, averaged 4.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in just over 13 minutes per game in the EuroLeague Women.
Lardy played for France on their gold-medal winning side at the EuroBasket Women 2009 and also represented the country at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women in the Czech Republic.
She did not feature at last year's EuroBasket Women in Poland and will now miss out on the OQTW.
The final player to be cut, national team boss Pierre Vincent has revealed, will be Marielle Amant or Elodie Godin.
Both players are 1.90m power forwards.
A back injury could scupper Godin's chances of being in the team.
The 26-year-old was a vital player in the side that captured gold at the EuroBasket in Latvia in 2009.
Amant, 22, and Godin played for France at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women but neither represented the country last year at the EuroBasket in Poland.
"Elodie injured her back this week and we were not able to properly assess her," Vincent said.
"We are still hesitating between her and Marielle for the final composition of the team.
"Therefore, We'll take time for the tournament this weekend to evaluate them both and then make our decision."
At Bellegarde sur Valserine, France will take on Croatia on Friday and then on Saturday at Halle Vacheresse de Roanne, Les Bleues will go up against Canada.
Both Croatia and Canada are teams at the OQTW, and the latter are in Group D with France and Mali.
During their last stage of preparations before travelling to Ankara for the qualifiers, France will take on Puerto Rico on 21 June at Gymnase Ganne à Saint Julien les Villas.
If France do claim one of the five berths for the London Games at the OQTQ, Tchatchouang and Lardy will rejoin the team at Deauville to help them prepare for the Olympics.
France squad for FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women (OQTW): Marielle Amant, Clemence Beikes, Jennifer Digbeu, Celine Dumerc, Elodie Godin, Emilie Gomis, Sandrine Gruda, Marion Laborde, Edwige Lawson-Wade, Florence Lepron, Endene Miyem, Emmeline Ndongue and Isabelle Yacoubou.
FIBA