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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO Basketball Association (BBA) secretary-general Francis Dube is confident that the provincial representatives will put in a good fight to book places for the national championships finals when they participate in the play-offs in Gweru this weekend.
The southern region will have teams from Matabeleland South, Midlands, Masvingo and Bulawayo vying for two slots for the finals that will be held in Bulawayo from April 29 to May 2.
Bulawayo is sending eight teams to Midlands State University (MSU) in Gweru to compete against other teams in the Southern region provincial leagues.
The eight teams comprise four men’s and four women’s sides. In the men’s division, Bulawayo will be represented by Lakers, Giants, Legends and Highlanders. Mavericks, Angels, Lakers Mzansi and Highlanders will do battle in the women’s category.
The Northern region has teams from Harare, Mutare and Mashonaland East, and will hold their play-offs in Harare.
“We concluded our league programmes last weekend and they were quite competitive. Mavericks men and Lakers women have already qualified for the finals, by virtue of being league champions. The other teams will now have to go through the play-offs and we are confident that we will get some more slots for the finals,” said Dube.
Winners of the national finals get to represent the country in the Basketball Africa League (BAL)
BAL is Africa’s premier men’s basket league, and consists of 12 teams, which qualify through their domestic competition.
The league is a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and International Basketball (FIBA), with sponsorship from Nike and Pepsi.
The competition replaced FIBA’s Africa Basketball league as the continent’s top-tier league. – @innocentskizoe
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