Kenya down Uganda in Africa 3x3 basketball event
What you need to know:
- Kenya Basketball Federation Vice Chairman and 3x3 basketball National Coordinator, Hilmi Ali, said the tournament has unearthed several top talents.
- “It is a good way of developing talents. We have seen very many promising players both in the Kenyan team and the visitors. If we continue like this in some years to come, we will supply Morans with very good players," said Ali.
Kenya Wednesday defeated Uganda 18-16 in the women’s finals on day three (stop three) of the 2022 Fiba 3x3 Under-23 National League Africa South at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.
Benin, Botswana and Rwanda are the other countries competing in the one-week tournament, whose winners in both the men and women categories will grace the World U-23 Championships to be held in September in Belarus.
The teams first square it out in pools, before proceeding to the semis and final.
Each match lasts eight minutes and in case of a tie, the teams proceed to overtime where the first side to score two successive points is declared the winner.
At the end of the tournament on Saturday, the teams with the highest stop wins in both categories will be declared champions.
Kenya's Alexandria Adala (right) tries to make a shot past Benin's Keita Vero (left) and Hamdyath Oruo during their Fiba 3x3 Under-23 National League Africa South match at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on July 13, 2022.
It was sweet victory for the Kenyan girls under the tutelage of coach Martin Kwaka, as they had lost 18-17 and 20-18 to Uganda in the finals held Monday and Tuesday respectively.
“We always knew that the tournament was within our reach and today, we made changes which worked to our advantage. I am sure come Saturday, we will emerge champions,” said Kwaka.
With the two victories, Uganda are still ahead in the race to Belarus in the women’s category.
Their coach, Jonathan Egau expressed confidence they will maintain their lead until the final day of the tournament.
“It (the race to Belarus) is still far for us. We are hoping that we can post a good performance in the remaining stops and qualify for the finals,” said Egau.
Kenya’s men side are yet to bag their first stop win as they again finished third with a 20-18 win over Uganda.
Kenya beat Botswana 21-12 in Tuesday’s third-place play-off.
In Wednesday's men's finals, Rwanda beat Botswana 18-10 to register their second stop win.
Rwanda’s first overall victory came Tuesday when they overpowered Uganda 18-16. Uganda beat Rwanda 21-20 in Monday’s finals.
Kenya Basketball Federation Vice Chairman and 3x3 basketball National Coordinator, Hilmi Ali, said the tournament has unearthed several top talents.
“It is a good way of developing talents. We have seen very many promising players both in the Kenyan team and the visitors. If we continue like this in some years to come, we will supply Morans with very good players," said Ali.
