Confident Kenyan lads face Botswana, Algeria at African Games
Kenya's 3 on 3 basketball squad in Algiers, Algeria.
What you need to know:
- Kenya take to the courts at 9pm Kenyan time, before facing Algeria at 11.40pm and Zambia at 9.40pm on Wednesday
- Madagascar are the reigning African Games champions and remain strong favourites alongside Egypt, who finished in second place in the last edition
- Kenya is not competing in the women’s competition due to lack of funds
Kenya men's 3x3 basketball team are upbeat ahead of their opening Pool “D” match against Botswana on Tuesday night at the ongoing African Games in Accra, Ghana.
The East Africans take to the courts at 9pm Kenyan time, before facing Algeria at 11.40pm and Zambia at 9.40pm on Wednesday in their other preliminary matches at the University of Ghana.
The Kenyan team comprises of Dennis Koja, Elisha Odhiambo, Jason Nwodo and Rodney Sande.
Basketball 3x3 is a shortened version of the regular 5-on-5 basketball, played by three players on each side, with one backboard and in a half-court set-up.
In a phone interview from Accra on Monday, Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) First Vice Chairman Hilmi Ali, said:
“The team is in high spirits. We are going for gold, not less than that. We want to lead the pool which will give us a quarter-final pairing against Egypt or Rwanda,” added Ali, who is also the team manager.
If coach Tonny Olal's men achieve that target, then they will have made a huge leap from the 2019 edition in Rabat, Morocco where they were eliminated in the preliminary stage.
Basketball has been one of the disciplines at the African Games since the first edition held in 1965 in Congo Brazzaville.
In 2019, the regular 5-on-5 basketball was replaced by 3x3 basketball.
Madagascar are the reigning African Games champions and remain strong favourites alongside Egypt, who finished in second place in the last edition.
Other teams taking part are Benin, Togo, Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Algeria, Uganda, Morocco, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Botswana.
Nigeria, who won the bronze medal at the 2019 edition, are not in this equation having dropped out of the top-16 ranking in the continent.
At the 2022 FIBA 3x3 Africa Cup held in Cairo, Madagascar triumphed in the final after defeating Egypt 20-17, while Rwanda humbled Tunisia 21-17 for bronze.
Kenya is not competing in the women’s competition due to lack of funds, leaving Egypt, Tunisia, Benin, Uganda, Morocco, Algeria, Zambia, Madagascar, Burundi, Tanzania and Togo to challenge for a podium finish.
