The latest edition of the "Nikola Marinković – Zaki" memorial tournament took place on September 5 and 6 in the Serbian city of Smederevo. Although the tournament is intended for boys under 15, Balkan participated with an under-14 squad led by their new coach, Mitko Marinkovski.
Balkan finished second out of four teams in their preliminary group. They defeated the Romanian team Oradea 41–28 but lost to the hosts, Smederevo.
In the match for third place, the team lost to Gro Basket 51–56. Despite finishing fourth, Coach Marinkovski expressed great satisfaction with their performance, noting that they played very well throughout the tournament. Balkan player Ivan Ivanov was named the tournament MVP.
