Happy mood in the women’s camp, which is constantly filled with players. Last year’s team leader, Kamilė Nacickaitė-Van Der Horst, welcomes the last week of preparation with no shortage of optimism.
“I was really looking forward to the 3×3 season myself. I think all women do too. We were definitely ready to go back, all in good spirits. There is definitely a big chance to get to the Olympics. We will try to make the most of that chance. We are trying to have a good preparation so that we would have done everything for a ticket to the Olympics”, said the leader of the country’s ranking.
Along with K. Nacickaite-Van Der Horst, there are eight more names on the list of candidates: Gabrielė Šulskė, Monika Grigalauskytė, Giedrė Labuckienė, Santa Okockytė, Gabija Meškonytė, Martyna Petrėnaitė, Dalia Donskichytė and Marina Solopova.
On Thursday, the women’s national team will fly to Poland, where they will test their strength against this country’s national team. On Sunday, six of the nine candidates will travel to Serbia, where they will have control meetings with the teams of Spain and Azerbaijan. The final four should become clear only on the eve of the selection in Hungary.
Meanwhile, the men’s team returned from an unsuccessful qualifier in Utsunomiya, Japan, on Tuesday, and some players will need to lick their wounds in the coming week.
Šarūnas Vingelis, who felt pain in his leg in the semifinals of the selection, avoided a fracture – he was diagnosed with foot inflammation, which he will have time to heal before the selection. Gintautas Matulis, who had back pain, returns to the lineup. It is true that the rehabilitation of Marijaus Užupis will take about two more weeks, so we will not see one of the country’s best 3×3 basketball players competing in Hungary. The remaining players – Darius Tarvydas, Evaldas Džiaugys and Aurelijus Pukelis are exercising in the usual mode.
The men will also travel to Serbia on Sunday for another training camp and a serious one sparring. From there, both national teams will travel directly to Debrecen.
In Hungary, both Lithuanian teams will have the last chance to grab the Olympic ticket. In both the men’s and women’s competitions, sixteen teams each will compete for the last three tickets to Paris.
