Africa-Press – Angola. The teams from the Nile Conference qualified for the play off of the quarter-finals of the Basktball Africa League are already planning the second round of the competition, to take place at the Kigali Arena, in the capital of Rwanda, from the 21st to the 28th of May.
Zamalek from Egypt, Petro from Luanda, Cape Towns Tigers from South Africa and FAP from Cameroon will join four others already qualified, coming from the Sahara Conference, namely the Rwanda Energy Group, AS Salé from Morocco, US Manastir from Tunisia and Seydou Legacy Athletique Club of Guinea.
With an impressive record of 11 consecutive victories, the “white knights” have yet to find an opponent to match and hope to maintain their performance until the final stage of the second edition of the BAL, according to the coach of the defending champions, the American Will Voigt.
Rwanda’s Energy is the first of eight finalists to start preparation work. The team that makes its debut this year in the BAL is committed to reaching the final and making the most of the home factor.
Petro’s Dream
Petro finished their campaign in second place with a 4-1 mark and heads to the capital of Rwanda with the dream of winning their third continental trophy.
The Angolan champions, who last won the FIBA African Champion Clubs’ Cup in 2015 in the previous format, promise to return stronger, after the lessons learned in Pharaoh’s lands, after 11 days of competition.
The tricolors continue with the bitter taste. The Brazilian coach José Neto believes that the third will be for good and is optimistic about the final stage in Rwanda, where he wants to redeem himself from the two consecutive defeats.
The coach of the Eixo Viário team revealed that his thoughts are already focused on qualifying the 2023 edition of the Basktball Africa League and, to that end, he intends to revalidate the title of the domestic competition, where the competition will resume this weekend. The tricolor delegation was led by the vice president for basketball, Anselmo Monteiro. Among those elected by coach José Neto present in Cairo were Gerson Domingos, Yanick Moreira, Olímpio Cipriano, Childe Dundão, Carlos Morais, Gerson Lukeny, Anderson Correia, Leonel Paulo, Aboubacar Gakou, Jone Pedro and Valdelício Joaquim.
Along with the Energy Group, the South African champions are also present for the first time in the media competition and managed to stamp their passport to Kigali, against all expectations, according to the predictions made before the start of the Conference that the Egyptian capital hosted.
FAP Celebrates
The Cameroon FAP effusively celebrated the much-desired qualification, despite the defeat in the last round against the hosts.
The military team had the support of a group of Cameroonians residing in Cairo, who, curiously, only showed up on the last day of the competition. Singing and many hugs were seen, both in the stands and on the playing court.
Meanwhile, Cobra Sports from South Sudan, who ended the competition with a balance of one win and four defeats, as well as Espoir Fukash from the Democratic Congo, away without any victory, were in fifth and sixth position, respectively, being, thus, outside the “elite eight”.
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