Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
INTERNATIONAL Basketball Federation (Fiba) in consultation with the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (Buz) have resolved to postpone the fourth edition of the Southern Africa 3X3 Under-18 basketball tournament that had been planned for December in Bulawayo to next year.
The closure of certain countries’ borders due to Covid-19 led to cancellation of the competition that was meant to start from December 3-6.
Ten countries, which include hosts Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Indian Ocean islanders Madagascar and Seychelles, had confirmed their participation in writing.
Zimbabwe won the last edition of the Under-18 competition dubbed “Three Lions 3X3 Southern Cup” held in Botswana last year.
Fiba excluded regional powerhouses Angola and Mozambique from participating in the competition to give participating countries a battling chance of clinching the series.
The delay in getting Government approval to resume activities also contributed to postponement of the tournament.
“Because of time factor related to planning for the journey while waiting for clearance from the Government, we decided with Fiba to postpone the tournament to next year. Look, some of the countries’ borders are still closed, so to include everyone who had confirmed participation, it was deemed fit that the event be moved to next year.
“The good thing is that we get to retain the hosting rights,” said Mujuru.
As part of their preparations for the regional competition, Bulawayo City Council (BCC) had granted Buz permission to stage the Southern Africa 3X3 Under-18 basketball tournament at the City Hall car park.
Buz, which has started engaging potential partners, chose City Hall car park with the hope of attracting lots of spectators since it’s a central venue.
Bulawayo has in the last six years hosted major tournaments such as the AUSC Region 5 Under-20 Championships in 2014, the Afro-Basket and African Games qualifiers in 2015 and the Zone Six
Basketball Club Championships in 2018.
Buz rotates international competitions and in January Zimbabwe played host to Afro-Basket 2021 preliminaries in Harare.
Mujuru says the tournament will leave a legacy in Bulawayo, especially coming after the lockdown.
When Bulawayo played host to the 2014 AUSC Region 5 Under-20 Games, the floor and electronic timers that were imported from the United States of America remained in the city and continue to be used for regional competitions and domestic events.
Fiba is on a drive to market 3X3 basketball, which has been incorporated into the Olympics, and by hosting the competition Zimbabwe, part of the legacy equipment to benefit Bulawayo include floor and electronic timers that will be used in the tournament.
In the build-up to the competition, Buz planned to stage selection competitions once the Covid-19 lockdown ends.
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