The young Ankoay Boys U19 are set on their opponents at the World Cup. Madagascar will play in Group B alongside the United States of America.
A huge challenge. The draw for the U19 Boys’ Basketball World Cup took place yesterday in Hungary. Madagascar are in Group B, drawn in third place behind Lebanon and the United States of America and ahead of Slovenia. This global competition will take place in Debrecen, Hungary, from June 24 to July 2.
For his first participation in this international game, the Ankoay are well served because they will face the Americans, world No. 1. It will not be a walk in the park for them at all. But it is also a source of motivation because it is not given to everyone to evolve at this level.
The coach of the Ankoay U19 boys national team, Alain Aimé Marcel Randria or coach Mémé, explains three things. “You have to prepare well, face the reality offered by the draw and the state must help the players on all fronts. We don’t know the formula of the competition yet. »
Angelot Razafiarivony, national technical director of the Malagasy Basketball Federation, also gave his opinion. “No team is to be underestimated because all teams are considered strong coming to this stage. We will try to build on our strong points, namely liveliness and speed. We still have time to polish our shots and our players need to look into that. “.
As for Harinirina Jimmy Désiré Randriamandimby, president of the competition commission at the FMBB, he indicated that all the teams in group B have a very high level, “but nothing is lost in advance. You have to fight very hard and without restraint. In my opinion, Lebanon and Slovenia can be taken”.
Efforts to undertake
To better position ourselves in this Debrecen World Cup, knowing the ranking of our opponents allows us to determine the efforts to be made to better equip ourselves, because we still have time. The United States of America is in its 17th participation with eight gold medals, three silver and one bronze. This country is the world number one with its 828.1 points.
Slovenia is at its third participation in the junior category. She ranks tenth in the world with 604.9 points and is sixth in Europe, in the latest FIBA rankings. Madagascar reaches the World Cup for the first time and occupies the thirty-fifth place in the world with its 377.3 points, second in 2022 and fourth in Africa in the last FIBA Africa ranking.
As for Lebanon, this will be their third participation in the World Cup. He is more experienced with his seven appearances in the Asian Cup. Lebanon ranks 39th in the world with 377.3 points and ranks third in the Asia 2022 ranking.
The four Pool B teams compete in turn and there will be a ranking of 1 to 4 per pool. In the round of 16, pool A faces pool B, hence the formula A1 against B4, A2 against B3, B1 against A4 and B2 against A3.
The draw
Group A: Canada, France, China, Spain
Group B: Lebanon, USA, Madagascar, Slovenia
Group C: Serbia, Japan, Brazil, Egypt
Group D: Argentina, South Korea, Hungary, Turkey
