PHOTOS: Marin Čilić gathers famous Croatian sportspeople for charity tennis event

by croatiaweek
June 13, 2019
in Sport

Marin Čilić teamed up with Luka Modrić (Photo: Julien Duval/Game Set Hrvatska)

ZAGREB, 13 June 2019 – It is hard to remember so many world-class athletes gathered in one spot in Croatia but yesterday at Zagreb’s Šalata tennis courts some of the nation’s biggest names turned out to support tennis star Marin Čilić and his foundation.

The Zagreb public had the opportunity on Wednesday to watch many of their idols show off their tennis skills as Čilić’s foundation held the charity event ‘Game Set Croatia’.

Mario Mandžukić serves (Photo: Julien Duval/Game Set Hrvatska)

The event was organised in an effort to promote youth sports participation and also raise funds for a multifunctional sporting complex in the eastern Croatian village of Tordinci.

Those who took part in the event included Croatian football stars Luka Modrić, Mario Mandžukić, Ivan Perišić, Mateo Kovačić, Dejan Lovren and Andrej Kramarić, as well as NBA stars Bojan Bogdanović and Dario Šarić, rower Valent Sinković, world gymnastic champion Tin Srbić, European gymnastic champion Marijo Možnik, swimmer Dina Levačić, Olympic gold medalist Sara Kolak, and tennis players Mate Pavić, Ivan Dodig, Ivan Ljubičić, Iva Majoli, Mate Delić, Mario Ančić, Lovro Zovko, and Ana Konjuh.

Modrić (Photo: Julien Duval/Game Set Hrvatska)

(Photo: Julien Duval/Game Set Hrvatska)

In the first semi-final of the charity doubles tournament Mario Mandžukić and rising tennis star Patrik Jurina beat Dejan Lovren and Franko Škugor 10-8, whilst Marin Čilić and Luka Modrić won their semi-final against Bojan Bogdanović and Mate Delić 10-7.

(Photo: Julien Duval/Game Set Hrvatska)

Mandžukić (Photo: Julien Duval/Game Set Hrvatska)

In the final Mandžukić and Jurina beat Čilić and Modrić 11-9.

Luka Modrić showing off his backhand (Photo: Game Set Hrvatska)

“The idea came about last summer whilst I was training on Korčula. Luka Modrić and Mateo Kovačić were there and we joked how we were missing a fourth player for a doubles match. On Instagram we posted a photo and invited Dejan Lovren and Šime Vrsaljko to join us. A flood of messages came in from athletes and that is how the story begun. We want to give our kids in Croatia a chance to enjoy in sport and the project Game Set Croatia, which I hope will be held every year, will help built sports fields in the most needed regions,” Čilić said about the event.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in the stands (Photo: Julien Duval/Game Set Hrvatska)

PRO-AM tournament

GROUP A
Marin Čilić/Luka Modrić
Lovro Zovko/Ivan Klasnić
Jelena Kostanić/Lovro Miloš
GROUP B
Mate Pavić/Andrej Kramarić
Patrik Jurina/Mario Mandžukić
Tena Lukas/Marijo Možnik
GROUP C
Ivan Dodig/Dario Šarić
Franko Škugor/Dejan Lovren
Antonija Ružić/Valent Sinković
GROUP D
Ivan Ljubičić/Ivan Perišić
Mate Delić/Bojan Bogdanović
Iva Majoli/Mateo Kovačić