MOMBASSA (Kenya) – When Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) players begin training for the new Africa Women’s Basketball League (AWBL) next month in Cairo, Egypt, coach Anthony Ojukwu will have a thing in mind.
The veteran has already participated several times in this competition – formerly the FIBA Women’s Africa Cup of Champions – but a place on the podium remains an unattainable dream. However, he believes the time has come for a change.
Dominating the home team, Rwanda Energy Group (REG), 87-55, in the FIBA Africa Zone 5 qualifier final for the AWBL earlier this month at the Lycée de Kigali gymnasium, Ojukwu won its 11th regional crown.
KPA
He revealed, as soon as the emotion had subsided, that he was now focusing on the final phase of the AWBL, scheduled for Cairo from December 11 to 19.
He has a job to do in this competition and plans to start training as soon as his late mother, Benter Oloo, who died after the team arrived in Kigali for the event, is buried.
The tactician has participated in too many continental competitions over the years and he is well aware that to succeed in the African Club Championship, a team must pull out all the stops.
KPA recorded 3 wins in 7 matches to climb to sixth place in the 2022 edition of the FIBA Women’s Africa Cup of Champions, which brought together 10 teams in Maputo.
Ojukwu has achieved unparalleled success at the local and regional levels, but he has nothing to show on the biggest podium, where KPA has been overshadowed every time the team has appeared.
But good preparation and planning remains the key. He is convinced that it is only a matter of time before 15-time Kenyan champions KPA make a name for themselves by disposing of the best the continent has to offer.
“I had a good team in Kigali, but to be the best in Africa, we still need to add another great player and playmaker who can also shoot to our roster,” Ojukwu noted.
“It is time that APK finds itself at the same table as the queens of African basketball. I am determined and I will continue to work hard to achieve this goal.”
He has already proposed to the team management to start preparations for the Cairo tournament from November 15, “so that we can have a whole month to train and, if possible, bring in additional players early enough to our preparations.
“It’s a championship, we have to go there and perform well. We have to invite ourselves to the table of the big names in African basketball. Our presence must be felt.” did he declare. Fiba.Basketball.
The Kigali event saw Victoria Reynolds, the daughter of “Big” Ben Wanjara, center of the Morans team which participated in Afro Basket in 1993, win the MVP title.
The excellent pivot Medina Okot was the best rebounder of the event. The duo was joined by Betty Kalanga (REG), Tetero Odille (APR) and Kamba Yoro Diakite (Gladiators) in the team of the tournament.
Okot, who also received the best rebounder award in Maputo last December, grabbed 27 rebounds in the Kigali final. Along with Nigeria’s Ifunaya Okoro, she made the team of the tournament by leading KPA to fifth place.
Captain Natalie Akinyi distributed 17 assists. Americans Morgan Greene, Selina Okumu and Hilda Uvandwa also played a major role in the Mombasa Dockers’ victory.
Without forgetting the young Aminata Samassekou, member of the Malian teams for the 2022 FIBA U 17 Women’s Basketball World Cup and the 2021 FIBA U 16 African Women’s Championship.
All this gives Ojukwu the confidence he needs, considering the fact that last year the team lost 78-67 to Alexandria Sporting Club (ASC) in the Zone 5 final in Dar Es Salaam , in Tanzania, and that the Egyptian women went to conquer Africa in Maputo.
Ojukwu has learned lessons from the many continental assignments handed to him over the years – a bitter struggle that began in 1993 against Angolans Deportivo de Nocal.
KPA – REG
The team’s woes deepened when Eagle Wings, an independent team, became the only club from Kenya to win a medal. It was 2013, and Eagle Wings had won bronze in Meknes, Morocco.
In Kigali, KPA dominated JKL Dolphins (Uganda), JKT Stars and Vijana Queens (Tanzania) as well as Nile Legends (South Sudan).
Team cohesion, he said, is the secret to their good performance in the competition, coupled with hard work and good scouting by the technical bench.
The KPA has fought in many African cities, without making a difference, even during a home championship held in Nairobi in 2008. But Ojukwu believes he now has the experience and human resources to achieve this elusive goal.
Will 2023 be an opportunity to ward off bad luck?
FIBA
2023-11-17 21:44:32
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