Zimbabwe suffer heavy defeat in Afro-basket opener

ZIMBABWE got their FIBA Under-18 Women’s Afro-Basket 2024 tournament campaign off to a terrible start after going down 85-36 to Uganda in their opening group encounter on Monday evening.

The 12-nation tournament is in Pretoria, South Africa.

Uganda, the reigning FIBA Under-18 Zone V champions, showed no signs of slowing down as they continued their winning momentum on the continental stage.

Led by the dynamic trio of Resty Nanangwe, Mia Alaba Belinda, and Shiphrah Kiranda, Uganda dominated their Group C opponents throughout the game.

Nanangwe put on a stellar performance, amassing 25 points, nine rebounds, and five steals.

Bulawayo Basketball Association (BBA) secretary Francis Dube said the defeat was a learning curve.

“It was a tough opener but let’s not forget that this whole tournament is a learning curve. We face another tough assignment against Nigeria on Thursday (tomorrow)and we hope the girls will put up an improved show. The most important thing is for our team to get that experience playing these top teams,” said Dube.

In other Day One matches on Monday, Tunisia outclassed Cameroon 73-59, while Rwanda, who lost to Uganda in the FIBA U18 Zone V final in June, delivered a statement performance with a resounding 102-37 victory over hosts South Africa.

The finalists of the FIBA Under-18 Women’s Afro-Basket 2024 will represent Africa at next year’s FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in the Czech Republic.

In the group phase, teams will face off in a round-robin system.

The teams that finish first and second in each group will advance to the quarter-finals and will be joined by the two best third-placed teams.

The winners of the quarter-finals will advance to the semi-finals, while the losers will play the classification games for the fifth to eighth places.

The classification game for third place and the final will be played on the last day of the competition (September 14). Exceptional performances at the continental championship can open doors to college scholarships or professional careers.

Meanwhile, BBA will hold its annual general meeting (AGM) on Saturday as they begin plans for the forthcoming 2024/25 season.

The whole idea behind this is to come up with the programme for the year.

FIBA Under-18 Women’s Afro-Basket 2024

Group A: South Africa, Tunisia, Cameroon, Rwanda.

Group B: Mali, Morocco, Zambia, Angola.

Group C: Egypt, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria. — @innocentskizoe