Kenya hopeful of clinching Fiba Championship slot

What you need to know:

  • The national women’s basketball team will on Monday find out whether it has been given a wildcard to this year’s Fiba Africa Championship set for Bamako, Mali. 

  • Kenya finished second at the Zone five qualifiers held in Cairo, Egypt last month, with the hosts clinching top spot and qualification to the continual showpiece.

  • The men’s team on the other hand finished in sixth place and cannot be considered for a wildcard. Egypt and Uganda men’s team sealed the two available berths for Zone five.

The national women’s basketball team will on Monday find out whether it has been given a wildcard to this year’s Fiba Africa Championship set for Bamako, Mali. 

Kenya finished second at the Zone five qualifiers held in Cairo, Egypt early this month, with the hosts clinching top spot and qualification to the continual showpiece.

The men’s team on the other hand finished in sixth place and cannot be considered for a wildcard. Egypt and Uganda men’s team sealed the two available berths for Zone five.

Twelve countries will qualify for the Africa Championship and one of these will be from the wildcard handed by the continental basket body.

Kenya Basketball Federation Secretary General Vitalis Gode remains confident the country will clinch the ticket to the continental showpiece.

“Fiba officials are meant to meet this weekend in Abidjan, Ivory Coast where the final decision is to be made and our chances are very high of getting the sole berth to Bamako,” Gode said. 

According to Gode, to be considered for the wildcard, a country has to have participated in the qualifiers and finished second in the tourney.

“We have both requirements and our performance in Egypt was not bad so there is a higher chance of us beating the rest of the second-paced nations,” Gode, who is also the Zone five secretary general said.

Kenya won once and lost thrice in the three-nation qualification tourney that also featured Uganda.  The country finished on five points, three behind Egypt who won all their four matches.

The women’s team got their campaign off to a good start with a 70-41 win over Uganda but subsequent losses to Egypt (twice) and Uganda complicated matters for the David Maina-coached side.

Seven teams have already qualified for the Africa Championship to be held from September 15-24.

Kenya has featured at the Africa Championship five times with their best showing being a silver medal at the 1993 showpiece held in Dakar, Senegal. The hosts trounced Kenya 89-43 in the final.

African champions Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria, Angola, Egypt Mozambique and the hosts have booked their places in the draw that will be held at the end of May.  Zone 1-5 are set to complete their qualifiers by this weekend.

The top two men and women’s teams at the end of the African Championship will qualify for next year’s Fiba World Cup.