The Montenegrin women's junior basketball team plays a match against Serbia in La Palma today (18) in the first round of Group A of the European Championship.
Our national team has a month of preparation and six test matches behind it (two each against North Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia). The junior team will be the only Montenegrin junior team that will defend the honor of our basketball in the elite division. The U18 team won the European B Championship last year and deservedly got a chance to be among the best national teams on the Old Continent.
"This generation has practically been together for four years. They won the A division in the cadet age group, won the B championship for juniors and it is nice that they now have the opportunity to play in the A division for the first time. This is a talented selection, which after the great generation of 2002 will certainly be the future of women's basketball and all these matches that follow in this championship will mean a lot to them in gaining experience," said coach Petar Stojanović for the Federation's website.
There were personnel problems during the preparation period, and certainly the biggest handicap was the absence of Sanja Aksham. However, there is a good atmosphere in the camp of our national team.
"We have a great group of girls who, as time went on, have progressed in their clubs, and this is a good opportunity for all of them to feel what it's like to play against the strongest. This will be a great experience," added Stojanović.
Montenegro will play in Group A at the European Championship, where the current European champion - the French national team - is also present, as well as Serbia and Israel, who were third and fourth at the European Championship last year.
"We have the toughest group, but regardless, we are going from match to match. Now we are focused on Serbia. We know that the national team is excellent, led by Jovana Popović, and we are aware that we have a tough job ahead of us. But we will try to get the most out of every game and leave the best impression possible with great fighting spirit," said Stojanović.
The following will represent Montenegro at this championship: Janja Dragišić, Jelena Bulajić, Milena Vujović, Ljube Andrić, Anđela Rakočević, Anđela Rondović, Valentina Vrcan, Marija Sekulović, Katarina Radulović, Anastasija Kasalica, Maša Praščević and Blanka Jovović.
Coach Stojanović's coaching staff includes coaches Marko Milošević and Jelena Nikpaljević, team manager Nikolina Popović, and physiotherapist Sara Zekić.
Bonus video:
