Borisa Simanic of Serbia during the FIBA World Cup in Manila – MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MIAMI — A Serbian national team player who lost a kidney during last year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup returned to his club and helped the club qualify for next year’s EuroBasket tournament on Sunday.
Borisa Simanic, who played his first home game for the national team in Belgrade since being injured in the Philippines last year, scored 12 points in Serbia’s 98-51 win over Denmark on Sunday.
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With this victory, Serbia became the sixth team to qualify for the European Championship, along with Lithuania and the four host countries (Latvia, Finland, Cyprus and Poland). There are 18 spots left in the 24-team field.
Read: Borisa Simanic returns to Serbia in hopes of playing basketball again
Simanic lost a kidney due to an injury sustained during the match between Serbia and South Sudan in Manila on August 30, 2023. Near the end of the match, he was fouled by a South Sudanese player and received an elbow to his left elbow. Central part. Shortly after the incident, he began losing blood and underwent surgery, but further complications were discovered and a second surgery was performed to remove his kidney in early September.
“I’m very happy to see him back,” said Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic of the Serbian national team, who is likely to play in EuroBasket next summer. “He’s a player that I grew up watching and actually had the opportunity to go back home and play with. We’re more like a family. Look at what happened to him in that World Cup. It was really difficult.”
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Simanic also had a qualifying win against Denmark last week, earning him three points. Sunday’s game was his first with the Serbian national team since his injury.
Read: Borisa Simanic, recovering from injury, inspires Serbia to reach semi-finals
“When the injury happened, I didn’t expect to come back so soon,” Simanic told FIBA after the first game against Denmark. “Actually, I had no idea if I would come back or not.”
Jovic practiced with Simanic over the summer and said he never doubted his national teammate would return. Simanic continues to play professionally in the Adriatic League this season.
“I’m very happy to see him back,” Jovic said. “I think it’s a tough journey, a tough story. I don’t think many people can do what he did.”
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