Africa-Press – Angola. Petro de Luanda’s coach, Sérgio Valdeomillos, considered the team’s participation in the Kalahari Conference tournament, a qualifier for the final phase of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), worthy. The team achieved four wins and one loss, securing their 6th appearance in the continent’s biggest club competition.
In addition to Petro, Tigers of Rwanda, Al Ahly of Libya, and Dar City of Tanzania qualified, and await the four competitors from the other conference to compete for the continental title next May in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Sérgio Valdeomillos was speaking as a summation at the end of the competition, held from March 27th to April 5th, in Pretoria, South Africa, in which the oil workers beat the host team of the Johannesburg Giants in the last challenge, on Sunday night, by 105 to 61.
He mentioned that it was a very competitive race, where the newcomer Tigers from Rwanda finished in first place, contrary to expectations that placed Petro de Luanda and Al Ahly from Libya as favorites for this position.
Despite the defeat (78-82) against the Tigers, which relegated Petro to second place in the Conference, the coach highlighted improvements in the team, in relation to the previous edition, highlighting that there are more national players in the squad, among those who constitute the “hard core”, to be used for a long time, which did not happen in the previous tournament in which they were part of the Sahara Conference, in Dakar (Senegal) and finished third.
He said there is a balance that highlights collectivism in the cast.
In his opinion, the result of the team’s only setback in the current edition ended up being fair, given the defensive errors made by Petro.
In turn, winger Aboubakar Gakou expressed the group’s readiness to regain the African title, lost last year to Libyan side Al Ahly.
According to the athlete, author of a double-double in the last game (18 points and 10 rebounds), the cohesion of the group allows us to believe in winning the second BAL trophy, a competition won by Petro in 2024.
In the tournament, Aboubakar Gakou, who said he was in good form, scored a total of 59 points, having been decisive in the classification.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
