British basketball forward Chantelle Handy hoping to 'keep GB alive' with successful Olympic qualification campaign
Great Britain basketball forward Chantelle Handy believes her side's upcoming Olympic qualifiers are crucial in 'keeping the sport alive' in the UK.
The team had their Lottery funding pulled after finishing bottom of their group at the 2012 London Games.
But they now have an excellent opportunity to reach an Olympics through the qualification process for the first time, given they did not have to qualify as hosts.
And Handy feels more than anything that reaching Tokyo would be significant in the sense it would allow future generations to continue coming through.
She said: "We just want to keep GB alive. It would be really sad if the programme can't continue.
"We want to go to Tokyo but for me it's more about trying to live on and hopefully get some funding for the younger generations.
"We're realistic, we know it's going to be hard. But that's our mindset going into every game. It's going to be a war - because everybody wants that ticket.
"Now is just our time - a lot of us are maybe looking to retire in the next few years - we want to make a statement before we leave."
Britain will face China, South Korea and Spain this week as all four teams fight for three places at the finals in Tokyo.
And point guard Rachael Vanderwal is confident a successful qualification campaign can serve as a major stepping stone to increase backing that the sport vitally needs.
"This is the biggest tournament I'm going to participate in besides the Olympic Games and we want that ticket," she said.
"I think we can make history and really put GB Basketball on the big stage.
"We haven't got the support that we deserve, really. To get to the actual Olympics, if that doesn't change things what can?
"It's really motivation for us to prove that GB Basketball deserves funding - so we can say 'look what what we've done already - with a little support we can do more'."
The qualification tournament has been moved from China to Serbia due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Britain's first match is against China on Thursday, before they take on South Korea on Saturday and finish with a clash against Spain on Sunday.
GB squad in Belgrade: Kristine Anigwe (Izmit, Tur), Mollie Campbell, Chantel Charles, Temi Fagbenle, Nicolette Fong, Cheridene Green, Chantelle Handy, Georgia Jones, Johannah Leedham-Warner, Janice Monakana, Karlie Samuelson, Hannah Shaw, Eilidh Simpson, Rachael Vanderwal.
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