Issue No. 599
Sports
Previous issue
Site map
|
|
15 - 21 August 2002 Issue No. 599 Sports |
Current issue Previous issue Site map | |
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Egypt drops a dream
As the Egyptian junior basketball team misses a golden opportunity to catch a dream and qualify to the World Cup, Abeer Anwar was there to report
Home-turf is known to be an edge in the sporting world. For Egypt's junior basketball team this week, however, it came to little avail.
Playing host to the 14th Under-18s African Basketball Championship, the nation's junior national team let go of a strong start against Algeria; losing 75-87, and with it the chance to lead their group, and qualify to the World Cup event -- scheduled for August 2003 in Malaysia. The young Pharaohs' fall in the face of Algeria dropped them to sixth place, in a display that critics described as a seeming reluctance to win. They were given a golden chance to make up for their loss against Mali -- needing a 14-point lead. Once again, however, they failed; beating them just 82-71 to give both Nigeria and Angola the chance to qualify to the semis, consequently rank first and second, and ultimately, qualify to the World Cup. Mali came in third place. In claiming the championship crown, Nigeria boasted its fifth championship win; adding to its victories in 1987, 1990, 1994 and 1998.
For the Egyptians, the championship brought no glory. They failed to win key matches, and they failed to win titles -- the individual titles of best player and best spiker went to Cote d'Ivoire's Fassi Yani and Angola's Joseph Santos, respectively.
The Egyptians, unfortunately, took the loss with little grace.
"Most of the participating players are forging their ages," Mahmoud Habashi, President of the Egyptian Basketball Federation said in response to the loss. "They are not juniors, but how can we prove this?"
This, of course, is not the sole reason for the loss, and critics have been quick to point out that not all eight teams have forged their players' ages. The main reason behind the failure, is thought to be the current turbulence the Egyptian Federation is passing through; an old president has returned by law, and a new one has left -- a sudden change that has sent the federation, the teams and players under its wings, into chaos. After all, how can a community feel stable and secure when overnight, their leader is removed? The result, is one loss after another. The first was the loss of the senior team at the Arab Championship, and the second was that of the juniors this past week. While the forged ages may have played a partial role in the loss, the federation needs to whip itself into shape if it hopes to save the face of Egyptian basketball.
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
