The Division 1 qualifying tournament for the World Cup finals, which will be played in Sydney from July 22 to 26, begins in the Greek city of Alexandroupoli on Monday.
After preparations in Belgrade and Kragujevac, the Serbian national team coach, Uroš Stevanović, determined the squad that will represent Serbia.
They are: Vladimir Misovic (Red Star), Milan Glusac (Novi Belgrade), Nikola Murisic (Radnicki), Djordje Lazic (Jadran HN), Strahinja Krstic (USC), Nikola Jaksic (Radnicki), Petar Jaksic (Radnicki), Dusan Trtovic (Novi Belgrade), Luka Pljevancic (Novi Belgrade), Nikola Lukic (Novi Belgrade), Vasilije Martinovic (Novi Belgrade), Nemanja Stanojevic (Šabac), Vuk Milojevic (Novi Belgrade), Viktor Urošević (Novi Belgrade), Marko Dimitrijevic (Novi Belgrade) and Luka Gladovic (Novi Belgrade).
In addition to coach Stevanović, the expert team includes coaches Miloš Ćirić, Stefan Ćirić, Darko Bilić, Nemanja Ličanin, Miloš Ostojić (coaches), Dr. Nikola Repac (doctor) and Aleksa Nikolić (physiotherapist).
Serbia is in a group with the Netherlands, Hungary and Greece, while the second group includes Italy, Croatia, Spain and the USA. In the first round, Serbia plays the Netherlands, followed by matches with Greece and Hungary.
After the matches in the qualifying round in two groups, the competition will continue again in two groups. The first will consist of the two top teams from each qualifying group, the second will consist of the remaining teams. Points are not carried over. The five most successful teams will compete in the final tournament in Sydney.
In other words, the participants of the first group are safe travelers to Sydney, while only the winner of the second group will be able to participate in the final competition. The sixth participant is the host country Australia, while the remaining two will arrive from Division 2, whose competition will be held in Malta with the participation of 23 teams.
World Cup qualifying tournament schedule
Monday, April 6
12.30 Serbia – Netherlands (Group A)
14.30 Italy – Spain (Group B)
16.30 Hungary – Greece (Group A)
18.45 Croatia – USA (Group B)
Tuesday, April 7
12.30 Netherlands – Hungary (Group A)
14.30 Spain – Croatia (Group B)
16.30 Greece – Serbia (Group A)
18.45 USA – Italy (Group B)
Wednesday, April 8
12.30 Serbia – Hungary (Group A)
14.30 Italy – Croatia (Group B)
16.30 Netherlands – Greece (Group A)
18.45 Spain – USA (Group B)
