SERBIA coach Sasha Djordjevic said Saturday he’s resigning after his team — among the favorites to win the basketball World Cup in China — settled for fifth place.

Djordjevic broke the news after Serbia beat the Czech Republic 90-81 to win the game that decided fifth and sixth place.

“I’ve already told the players I think it’s time to leave,” Djordjevic said through an interpreter. “That’s it. I want to resign now. ... I’m leaving in a moment when we unfortunately didn’t manage our goal.”

Djordjevic said he decided to resign before the World Cup opened just over two weeks ago, suggesting he was not pushed by the poor outcome.

“Life goes in some other direction for me,” he added. “I wanted to be with my family this summer. Everything was very tough; the preparation, the qualification and the competition.”

Djordjevic, a former player, took over in 2013 and built success from the start.

Serbia had won silver medals in the last three major international tournaments under Djordjevic, including the Rio de Janeiro Olympics three years ago. Serbia also won silver in the 2014 World Cup and in the 2017 EuroBasket (the European championship).

The losses in the final of the Olympics and the 2014 World Championship were against the United States. The EuroBasket defeat was against Slovenia.

Serbia will have to compete in a qualifying tournament next summer to book a place in the Tokyo Olympics. (SD-Agencies)