ALUSHTA (2015 FIBA U19 Women's World Championship) - Daria Kolosovskaia and Kseniia Levchenko were the headline names on the initial candidate list for FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship hosts, Russia.

Kolosovskaia was the do-it-all wing star last summer in Matosinhos, when she lit it up on the Portuguese coast to carry Russia to the U18 European Championship Women title.

Crowned MVP for her efforts, she was the leader of the All-Tournament Team and one that Levchenko just missed out on.

However, Levchenko debuted for the senior team last year and helped Russia to qualify for EuroBasket Women.

Since she hasn't been rewarded with a place on the roster for the Final Round in Hungary and Romania later this month (11-28 June), she will be focused on pulling the strings in Chekhov.

That means feeding the ball to the twin towers of Zhosselina Maiga and Tatiana Sema - both of whom were hugely instrumental in taking the team to the top of the European podium.

There is also an opportunity for some of the younger players who propelled Russia to glory at the U16 European Championship Women in Debrecen.

Viktoriia Zavialov, Kamilla Ogun and Raisa Musina are all included, with the latter having made the All-Tournament Team in Hungary.

However there is no place for MVP and frontcourt sensation Maria Vadeeva who looks like she is now odds-on to step out with the senior team at EuroBasket Women.

Since last summer, she has posted a sensational campaign in EuroCup Women and the Russian Premier League Women with Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje - as well as impressing in recent preparation games.

It remains to be seen if she might be added to the roster at a later stage.

The U19 candidates have been based in a camp in Alushta and the 12 who make the final cut will go up against Argentina, Netherlands and Chinese Taipei in Group A.

Russia preliminary roster for 2015 FIBA U19 Women's World Championship: Olga Aksenova, Elizaveta Bratchikova, Anna Burovaya, Margarita Dukhina, Alexandra Kirina, Daria Kolosovskaia, Anastasia Kuplinova, Ksenia Kuzmina, Kseniia Levchenko, Zhosselina Maiga, Raisa Musina, Kamilla Ogun, Tatiana Sema, Veronika Varlamova, Viktoriia Zavialova.

FIBA