By Jejje Muhinde
Rwanda will face only Ethiopia in this year's Fiba Afro-basketball U-16 boy's championship after nine nations pulled out from the Zone V basketball championship slated for May 30 to June 3 at Amahoro Petit Stadium.
Both teams will play two games and the winner in the boys category will qualify for the Fiba Afro Basketball championships scheduled for July in Mali. The Ethiopian team is already in Kigali after jetting in on Thursday afternoon.
Speaking to the media, the U-16 team captain, Arnaud Nkusi, said: "We have been training hard for this championship and we are ready to face the Ethiopians."
Head coach Albert Buhuke said: "Despite the changes that happened, we have been training for the whole championship not a specific nation. We started in mid-March though we had some challenges given that most of our players are students not professionals."
"The team is fine, we only played one friendly game against PJB of Goma and I believe it is enough."
Meanwhile, the girls U-16 team has already qualified for the Afro Basketball U16 girl's tournament slated for July 16 to 24 in Madagascar.
"Most Zone V countries have failed to participate in this tournament because they lack U-16 youth teams," National Basketball Federation President Desire Mugwiza explained.
"We are able to have a team because of the youth development program in schools. We tested over 60 students and those who were eligible were selected to represent the national team and they will join the U-18 team next year," Mugwiza said.
Source: AllAfrica
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