Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:20:55 +0000
By Michael Miyoba
THE Zambia national basketball team yesterday entered residential camp in readiness for the Group G FIBA Africa Zone Six Afrobasket qualifiers which kick off on Saturday in Lusaka.
Zambia is hosting this year’s qualifiers with NASDEC being the venue for all the six games to be played in the qualifiers.
And National basketball team coach, Cuthbert Tembo who is also UNZA Pacers basketball team head coach, says his boys are ready and focused on qualifying for this year’s Afrobasket championships.
Tembo noted that the team has trained hard to ensure that they qualify for the Congo Brazzaville outing.
“So far so good. The preparations have been going very well and today at 14:00 hours we will go into camp at Golden Bridge Hotel to speed up preparations for the qualifiers,” said Tembo in an interview with the Daily Nation Sports in Lusaka yesterday.
And despite not having played any friendly games with international teams, Tembo is confident that the team can still qualify for the Afro-basket championships.
“We played four friendly games so far with teams from the ZBF league and some select sides. We would have loved to play international friendlies but from the way the team has performed in the four friendly games we have played, indications are that we are on the right track and can qualify for the Afro basket championships.
“The guys have been very competitive and we are happy with the levels of competition they have showcased so far,” Tembo said.
He commended the Zambia Basketball Federation for their commitment in ensuring that the team prepares adequately for this weekend’s qualifiers.
The Cuthbert-drilled Zambia national basketball team will begin the qualifiers with a date against South Africa in the first game of the qualifiers while South Africa will play favorites Angola in the second game.
Zambia will then play Angola are the favourites in the third game of the qualifiers before clashing with South Africa in the fourth game.
South Africa and Angola will again face off in the fifth fixture with the host nation Zambia taking on Angola in the sixth and final fixture of the qualifiers.
The winner of the round robin Afro-basket qualifier will qualify for this year’s Afro-basket championships to be held in Congo Brazzaville from August 19 to 31 where the 2015 All-Africa Games were held.
