Three veterans cut from Angola's final roster, four newcomers heading to Belgrade OQT

MADRID (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Angola will be competing in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade, Serbia, with four new faces in their final roster, the country's Basketball Federation has confirmed.

The six-team Belgrade OQT runs from 4-9 July, and only the winner will fill one of the three places in next month's Rio Olympics.

On Saturday, Armando Costa, Olimpio Cipriano, Roberto Fortes - a trio of veterans - were cut from the final roster that will try to secure a place at the Rio Olympics, while Silvio De Sousa, Gerson Domingos, Bruno Fernandes and Gerson Goncalves Lukeny are set to make their debut with the senior team.

Ever since Domingos, a point guard with local side Petro de Luanda, scooped the MVP honours at the 2014 AfroBasket U18, the 20 year-old has been tipped a potential option for the former African champions. 

The reason we have some younger players is because we are planning our future international commitments. They must be integrated sooner rather than later. - Dinis

With Costa, Fortes, Braulio Morais, Yanick Moreira and Eduardo Mingas - the latter retired from the national team -, missing the OQT, Angola head to Belgrade with seven players who featured at AfroBasket 2015. 

Angola's head coach Carlos Dinis said: "The reason we have some younger players is because we are planning our future international commitments. They must be integrated sooner rather than later."

Angola have been drawn in Group A alongside hosts Serbia and Puerto Rico.

If they can advance to the Final Phase, the Southern Africans will face a Group B team which includes the Czech Republic, Japan, and Latvia in one of the two semi-finals, on Friday.  

But if they fail in their two Group Phase games, they will be on their way home, missing the Olympics for the second time in a row.

Angola will open their Belgrade OQT facing Puerto Rico on Tuesday, 5 July.

FIBA