Turin OQT heroes Bogdanovic, Saric in 23-man Croatia squad
MIES (Switzerland) - Croatia have included Dario Saric, Bojan Bogdanovic and other heroes from 2016 on their extended list of players for the upcoming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Split.
MIES (Switzerland) - Croatia have included Dario Saric, Bojan Bogdanovic and other stalwarts from their successful 2016 campaign on the extended list of players for the upcoming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Split.
Saric, Bogdanovic, Krunoslav Simon and Darko Planinic turned in inspirational efforts five years ago at the OQT in Turin, where Croatia beat hosts Italy in the Final to reach the Rio de Janeiro Games, and all four have been named on a 23-man list for this summer's event on home soil.
🇭🇷 | Približava se veliki Olimpijski kvalifikacijski turnir u Splitu! 👀
— HKS_CBF 🇭🇷🏀 (@CbfHks) May 28, 2021
👉 | Na koje sve igrače izbornik Mršić računa? #OQT2021 #roadtoTokyo #premasuncuhttps://t.co/1dyzmXZuag
Coach Veljko Mrsic has also included two-time Olympian Roko Leni Ukic, an influential member of the national team since FIBA EuroBasket 2005, as well as Los Angeles Clippers big man Ivica Zubac, Mario Hezonja and seasoned campaigner Zeljko Sakic.
Ivan Perasovic, who is the son of former Croatia star and national team coach Velimir Perasovic, is also on the list. Ivan Perasovic is 19 years old.
Dragan Bender, Miro Bilan, Filip Kruslin and Ante Zizic are other notable names included.
| Croatia's 23-man squad for FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament | ||||
| Dragan Bender | Miro Bilan | Bojan Bogdanovic | Mateo Dreznjak | Tomislav Gabric |
| Lovro Gnjidic | Mario Hezonja | Antonio Jordano | Toni Katic | Filip Kruslin |
| Pavle Marcinkovic | Ivan Perasovic | Toni Perkovic | Darko Planinic | Roko Leni Ukic |
| Ivan Ramljak | Roko Rogic | Zeljko Sakic | Dario Saric | Krunoslav Simon |
| Boris Tisma | Ante Zizic | Ivica Zubac | ||
The list will be whittled down to 16 players after the domestic league play-offs in Croatia.
The OQT will be staged from June 29 to July 4, with Croatia facing Brazil and Tunisia in Group B and Germany, Russia and Mexico battling in Group A. Brazil are coached by Aleksandar Petrovic, who was at the helm of Croatia in 2016.
The countries that finish in the top two of each group will advance to the Semi-Finals of the OQT and the national team that ultimately wins the event will clinch a spot in the Tokyo Games.
There are also OQTs in Canada, Lithuania and Serbia.
Spain, Argentina, France, Australia, USA, Iran, Nigeria and Japan are already in the Olympic men's tournament.
FIBA