Australia names Blicavs for Olympic basketball team as Cambage withdraws

A screenshot from Australia's women's basketball team's Twitter account.

Australian basketballer Sara Blicavs will make her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games after star player Liz Cambage pulled out.

SYDNEY, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Basketballer Sara Blicavs was called up into the Australian Olympic team on Tuesday, following the shock withdrawal of star center Liz Cambage.

Blicavs, 28, will make her Olympic debut in the 12-strong Opals team in Tokyo next week. In doing so, she builds on her family's impressive basketball legacy, with her father, Andris Blicavs, playing in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and mother, Karen Ogden, representing Australia in the 1983 World Championships.

Opals head coach Sandy Brondello said it had been "really hard to pick that final 12". "Sara really was so close to making this team [before Cambage's departure], because it was more about the balance of the team," she said.

"When you face some kind of adversity, when someone leaves the team, it means that you can replace them. To make that call to say that she's the player we want, made me happy."

Blicavs, who stands 188cm, plays in the guard or forward positions for the Southside Flyers in Australia's Women's National Basketball League.

The Opals, who are considered strong medal contenders, will begin their Olympic campaign against Belgium on July 27.