FIBA Africa Zone 6 Weekly Review: 16/072024

FIBA Africa Zone 6 Weekly Review: 16/07/2024

‍

‍

The 2024 Confederation of Universities and Colleges Sports Association (CUCSA) Games was held at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The biannual event  featured 5 countries after Angola pulled out: South Africa (host nation), Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe defeated Zambia in the men’s final – a repeat of the last CUCSA finals. South Africa cruised past Zambia in the women’s final, claiming gold in front of their home fans.

With Road to BAL in sight, Harare based JBC were looking to secure their second consecutive ticket to the tournament. However, they were defeated by city rivals Basket Hounds. The team will be making their Road to BAL debut this year. The Harare outfit recruited starting point guard from their rivals, Kuda Pfatshi, who proved to be the catalyst between the two teams. Zimbabwe has a rich history of basketball in the region but has struggled to translate that into international participation in recent years as they have failed to qualify for major tournaments at senior level. There seems to be a tidal change with the new "golden generation". Basket Hounds relied on local talent to secure this title and will look to them to carry them through the qualifiers in their quest to compete in the BAL next year.

Malawi national champions, Bravehearts, hosted the 2024 edition of their international basketball tournament, Bravehearts International Basketball Challenge from 5-8 July in Lilongwe. Recently, the tournament has began to serve as preparation for the Road To BAL for teams in the region. There were teams from Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique in this edition that was split into 3 divisions: men, women and masters(+40 years). Unilil Ark Angels (Malawi) defeated Lusaka Basket Queens (Zambia) 65-64 to claim the women’s title. Matero Magic (Zambia) who are also the reigning Zambian champions defeated Bravehearts (Malawi) in the men’s finals to claim the gold.

Basketball South Africa (national basketball federation) has indicated that the National Club Championships will be the route to BAL. This decision follows the legal deadlock between them and the Basketball National League (BNL). BNL was previously the route to BAL. That is how the Cape Town Tigers qualified last year. BSA president, Mr Sanele Mthiyane, believes that this is a more sustainable route to qualifying and a more inclusive way to have participation from all 9 provinces until there is a league that can fulfill this mandate.

‍

[Photography / Imagery Courtesy of CUCSA]