Croatian basketball team has high hopes for Stankovic Cup

ZAGREB, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Croatian basketball team that will compete at Stankovic Cup in Shenzhen from July 19 to July 23 left Croatia on Saturday evening with players full of hope that they can represent their country on the highest level.

They had five days to prepare for challenges of the tournament in which they will face national teams of China, Germany and Egypt and to impress the national head coach Aleksandar Petrovic.

"I am very satisfied with this group of players. We didn't have too much time to prepare but we did a very good job," 58-year old head coach said before the trip to China that took Croatian team from Zagreb to Doha and Hong Kong before their final destination in Shenzhen.

"This tournament is very important as four players from this team will join 11 others in the preparation for Eurobasket. They will have four games to earn their place among the best," Petrovic added.

Eurobasket, the European basketball championships that draws 24 top teams from Europe, will be held this year in Romania, Finland, Israel and Turkey from August 31 until September 17. Croatian A team will begin preparation for Eurobasket on July 27 with NBA stars like Dario Saric of Philadelphia 76ers and Bojan Bogdanovic of Indiana Pacers heading the list of 11 chosen players. The ambition of that team will be to win a medal that Croatian basketball fans are waiting for since 1995.

The team that will represent Croatia in Stankovic Cup consist of some players that had success with the national team on a junior level, 22-year old Domagoj Bosnjak of former European champion Cibona Zagreb being one of them.

"We don't know much about our opponents. We heard that China will play with the best team. We will do our best to represent our country," Bosnjak said.

"I'll do my best to be one of the four that the head coach will choose to join the A team but the competition is fierce," 22-year old forward pointed out.

On July 19, the first day of the tournament, Croatia will play against the hosts, followed by the games against Germany on July 20 and versus Egypt on July 21.

"I don't have a lot of information about our opponents. China will have all the best players and I expect them to be our toughest rival. We will have a chance to see Germany and Egypt clash before we will have to play them, so it will be easier to prepare for these two matches," head coach Petrovic said.

"Purpose of this trip is to test our players and see which four will excel in those conditions."

Croatian team is expected to arrive to Shenzhen on Sunday evening local time.