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Uganda U18 sides start search for Afrobasket tickets
Junior Silverbacks going through their paces during the residential camp held in Lubowa. PHOTO/COURTESY OF FUBA
What you need to know:
There is just one direct ticket in each of the two categories, and both the Junior Gazelles and Silverbacks will be hoping to win the qualifiers in front of the home crowd and make it to the continental showpiece slated for August in Johannesburg, South Africa.
After close to a month of intense training, Uganda’s U18 teams will start their chase for Afrobasket tickets on Sunday, when the Fiba U18 Zone V Qualifiers get underway at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium in Kampala.
There is just one direct ticket in each of the two categories, and both the Junior Gazelles and Silverbacks will be hoping to win the qualifiers in front of the home crowd and make it to the continental showpiece slated for August in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Andrew Tendo’s Junior Silverbacks final team, named on Saturday, features up to seven players plying their trade in schools abroad, with Tejan Rugette as the most prominent name, having dominated the U16 category held in Kigali, Rwanda last year.
“We feel like we picked the best players that we could possibly find and we are going to ably compete,” Tendo said after the technical meeting held at Nobview Hotel in Ntinda, Kampala.
He added: “We are going to get some competition from Rwanda because they have got a couple of players from abroad so we anticipate they have a quality team but we too have a quality team and we should be able to win this thing.”
From the technical meeting, four boys’ teams confirmed participation in the competition while the Somalia team was still expected to arrive in Uganda to take the number to five in the girls’ category.
Like Tendo, John Omondi, the Junior Gazelles tactician, is confident his troops can ride on the home support to win their category.
“We have worked so hard to prepare for this championship and I think we are ready. We want to get the best out of the girls and they also know that the target is qualifying,” Omondi told this publication.
“For us to qualify we have to beat everyone so our target is to get the best and make sure we qualify,” he added.
The Junior Gazelles will be the first in action when they face Rwanda while the Junior Silverbacks have Tanzania in the opening day’s final game.
The tournament will be played on a round robin format, with each side facing all the others in the tournament once before the top four progress to the semifinals.
At the semifinal stage, the top ranked team will face the fourth while Number Two and Three battle it out in the other fixture to determine the two finalists.
The eventual winner of the qualifiers will then book the lone ticket to Afrobasket.
Fiba Africa Zone V U18 Championship
Sunday fixtures -Lugogo
Girls
Kenya vs. Tanzania, 12pm
Uganda vs. Rwanda, 5pm
Boys
Rwanda vs. Kenya, 2.30pm
Uganda vs. Tanzania, 7.30pm
Junior Silverbacks team
Ajang, Duot, Brighton Galiwango, Edrine Ekau, Eli Ssenyange, Gideon Ekukwai, Jonathan Ssewanyana, Kagaba Musiime, Aaron Makmot, Mathew Kisake, Mukisa Nkugwa, Peter Serunjogi Jr, Tejan Rugette, Amos Mugisha
Junior Gazelles
Maxine Anyango, Angella Auma, Christine Namyalo, Immaculate Adongpiny, Gartrude Nyamutoro, Husnah Abubakar, Belinda Alaba, Melinda Laker, Abigail Mpoza, Aber Sonia Akuli, Shiphrah Kiranda, Melissa Taliba, Resty Nanangwe
