NAIROBI (Kenya) – The Road to BAL East Division Elite 16 begins at the Nyayo Gymnasium on Thursday, November 24 with four matches scheduled over the first two days before moving to the Kasarani Indoor Arena for the remainder of the eight-team competition.
With two places at stake, the six days of competition should offer high-level matches, as all teams, except one, aim for a first participation in the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Only Uganda’s City Oilers have already qualified for the main African club competition.
THE TEAMS
Group A, led by the Nairobi City Thunder (NCT), also includes the Bravehearts of Malawi, the Kriol Star of Cape Verde, who obtained a FIBA wild card, and the MBB Blue Soldiers of South Africa.
Group B pits the City Oilers, participants in the BAL, against the Burundians of Urunani, the Zambians of Matero Magic and the South Sudanese of Fox Basketball, another beneficiary of a wild card.
MATCH REMAKES
In this group, the Zambians will renew their rivalry with Fox, having clashed in the group stage, while Urunani and City Oilers will revisit their Elite Round of 16 semi-final clash two years ago. years, where the latter won and qualified for the first time.
Second chance for Kriol
The Kriol Stars of Cape Verde will open the ball in Nairobi against the Bravehearts of Malawi at 12:30 p.m. (9:30 GMT).
Kriol Stars played in a three-team group stage, losing to Al Ahly Tripoli and Stade Malien. The wild card gives them a second chance to fight for a place in the BAL from their first participation.
“We are a very young team, but with some of the best talents in Cape Verde and our biggest determination is to put Cape Verdean basketball on the map. This is a great opportunity to show what we have on a stage much bigger with more teams, because it gives us the opportunity to regroup in case of missteps,” Joel Almeida, who manages the team, told FIBA.basketball.
BRAVEHEARTS
For their part, champions Malawi will be hoping to start the competition better than in the group stage in Zimbabwe, where they started with a squad of eight players, losing the first two matches, but rallying to win the next two against Fox of South Sudan and Costa do Sol of Mozambique, paving the way for their debut on this stage.
MBB
The MBB Blue Soldiers, new South African champions, take the place occupied by the Cape Town Tigers since 2022 and will try to qualify for the BAL in which 12 teams participate and whose final phase will take place on their territory. They begin their campaign against local side NCT, with both teams making their debuts at this stage.
THUNDER
Enjoying home advantage and loyal fans eager to encourage them to make history, Nairobi City Thunder, who finished second in the group stage matches held in Kibaha, Tanzania, has made some major recruitments ahead of the competition and believes he has what it takes to achieve this feat the first time.
“We have spent more time together since Kibaha and I think we are ready to face any opponent. We know that qualification is a process and we have confidence in ourselves to overcome the pressure and achieve our goal,” said said veteran Ariel Okall.
DEATH GROUP
In Group B, which many describe as the group of death, the Oilers of Uganda will open their campaign against Fox Basketball of South Sudan. Coach Andrew Tendo hopes to lead his team to its third BAL.
“We had a good preparation before the matches. The last month was very intense and we hope it will pay off. This is the second time we are playing on this stage and I think the experience will be useful. I “I really want to come back to the BAL and have a better experience while helping the club reach the play-offs,” said Israel Otobo, who played for Dynamo Burundi last year.
For his part, Fox, who is led by Ajou Deng, the assistant coach of the Bright Stars, and who has three new recruits in the team which participated in the group stage, considers his second chance as a blessing and as the start of a great qualifying campaign.
“It’s exciting to play with a local team. A lot of people follow us and want to see our club dominate the BAL like we did with the national team. We believe that everything happens for a reason and now that we have a second chance, we want to make it a good story and qualify. Obviously it will be difficult because there are a lot of good teams here, but we are looking forward to it,” said Dhieu Abwok Deing, who participated in both. to the Road to BAL and the competition herself for different teams, and who should lead the team’s offensive front.
The Zambians of Matero Magic and the Burundians of Urunani complete Group B. These two teams won the qualifiers for Groups D and E of the Eastern Division and the draw wanted them to meet on the day of opening.
The Zambian champions will be able to count on Saul Phiri, who is in his second experience with the club in this competition. Last year he played for JNBC in Zimbabwe.
“We come here with a different mindset. The first time was an eye-opening experience and a big wake-up call, because the competition is incredible at this level. We had a very good first round, with a score of 5 -0, and we will try to continue this momentum here We came close to disaster in the previous stage, but we are prepared to do better, because we have had time to adapt. It’s a difficult group. , but we can’t wait to be there”, Phiri said.
RUNANIAN
For his part, Urunani, who made a last-minute adjustment by integrating Senegalese Abdoulaye Ndoye, best defender of BAL 2024, in a bid to strengthen his defense, also hopes to continue his unbeaten streak in the group stage in Elite 16.
“I played with a few of these players in Senegal and Cape Town which helps me adapt. They are ready to make history and that’s what I’m going to help them do “My role is defensive and I am ready to do everything I can to help the team win and make history,” Ndoye told FIBA.basketball.
FIBA
