There's no hiding she's gutted, but Sara Blicavs is determined not to let a foot injury end all hope of playing basketball for Australia at the Rio Olympics.
The talented forward was a late withdrawal from the Opals' warm-up tour of Japan after failing to recover from a minor tear suffered at the end of the squad's first camp in Canberra in early April.
"It's a really unusual injury," she told AAP.
Despite resting for a few weeks, Blicavs said she pulled up "pretty crappy" after a return to light jogging.
"Even till this day I'm still not jogging, I literally haven't done anything," the 23-year-old added.
"I'm someone that cannot sit down for more than five minutes, so to have to sit down for five weeks has been killing me. I wish I was out there so bad.
"But I think I've been very smart and, for once, actually been good with my injury - I'm not trying to push it too much."
Blicavs is aiming to be back at 100 per cent fitness in time for the Opals' European tour, which follows the three-game visit to Japan and ahead of two more training camps back in Australia.
She hopes coach Brendan Joyce, who didn't replace her for the trip to Asia, keeps her in mind when he makes the final cut for Rio next month.
"Obviously missing Japan's a big loss, but I'm not going to go into a tour and only be at 50 per cent and not doing any good," she said.
"I have no expectations of making it, I don't put myself under that pressure. I purely go into these camps and tours to try better myself for the week after and whatever happens happens."
Blicavs will be joined by Tess Madgen on the sidelines, with the guard flown back to Melbourne after re-injuring her ankle while training in Nagaoka.
Despite missing the pair, the Opals continued their fine form against Japan in Tokyo on Monday night, winning 81-55 in the second of three practice games. It followed their earlier 80-41 victory.
Centre Liz Cambage again starred with 20 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 6-9 from the field and 7-9 from the free-throw line.
Every player hit the scoreboard, including Katie-Rae Ebzery (15 points), Cayla George (13 points) and Steph Talbot (10 points) who all reached double figures.
The Opals play their third and final game against Japan on Tuesday night.
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