If you’re wondering why you’re seeing AfroBasket again, this is the Men’s edition of the competition. In the Women’s edition that took place a couple of days ago, African women were given the chance to compete against one another.
D’Tigress of Nigeria were crowned champions after winning all of their games – including beating the host nation. Their Women’s AfroBasket Championship win also meat that they qualified Nigeria for the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Spain next year.
Talk about setting the mark for the men to follow.
While the women’s championship was characterized by games with low-scoring margins, it is obvious that the games in the men’s championship will be a total contrast. But, which teams will be participating in the competition this year?
The 29th edition of the AfroBasket championship will see 16 teams battle each other for the chance to be crowned champions of Africa. That’s not all at stake. The winner of the tournament which will be jointly hosted by Tunisia and Senegal will earn a ticket to the FIBA Men’s World Cup.
Starting on the 8th of September, African basketballers will be called upon to wear their national colors as they look to wrestle the championship out of the hands of the reigning champions, D’Tigers of Nigeria.
The Men’s basketball team of Nigeria was crowned the best basketball-playing nation in Africa two years ago. And the Nigerians will be looking to defend that title and also qualify for the FIBA World Cup. But they have their work cut out for them.
With the likes of Angola, Central Africa Republic, Morocco, Uganda, Tunisia, Guinea, Rwanda, Cameroon, Senegal, Mozambique, Egypt and South Africa all competing for the same title, the D’Tigers will have to do it all to remain champs of Africa.
This means good news for fans of basketball. With countries set to feature in this competition, you can be sure there’ll be no dull moments. You can even expect fireworks in every single game! You can also visit NairaBET.com to back your favorite teams; the teams you think will go all the way.
(We’ll bring you updates as the game starts 8th Sept so you can support and bet on your favourite teams.)
Looking at how the competition will pan out, the 16 teams have been split into four groups. In Group A, there’s Nigeria, DR Congo, Mali and Ivory Coast. Group B features Angola, Central African Republic and Uganda. In Group C, there’s Tunisia, Guinea, Rwanda and Cameroon. In Group D, there’s Senegal, Mozambique, Egypt and South Africa.
The Men’s European Championships will also begin starting on Tuesday.
You can click here to place your bets and back your favorite teams.
Of all the countries participating, the one the D’Tigers will be wary of going into the championship is the Angolan side. Having won the most gold medals (11 gold medals) in the history of the FIBA African Basketball Championships, they will be looking to return to the top spot where they feel they rightly belong to. And the urge will be even stronger considering that they lost to Nigeria in the finals of the 2015 AfroBasket Championships.
Another team to watch out for is the Tunisia national side. Asides finishing the 2015 edition of the competition with a bronze, they will enjoy massive support from the home crowd being one of the host nations. The Senegalese will also enjoy this home advantage too. But that’s not all they will be enjoying.
With top NBA player, Gorgui Dieng, in their ranks, they will be relying on the superstar to lead them to victory in this year’s edition of the African Championship.
The assault for the championship currently being held by D’Tigers begins on the 8th of September. Expect slam dunks, shots from downtown and the ones from inside the paint area. Expect steals, no-look passes and even much more.
While you’re looking forward to all of that, which team do you think will win the 2017 Men’s AfroBasket Championship? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.
Tags: AfroBasket, FIBA, Senegal-Tunisia
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