City of basketball
The semifinals of the African Basketball Championship will start today at the Cairo Stadium. Inas Mazhar reports from Alexandria.
A great clash is anticipated by basketball fans today, as group A's Egypt and Algeria, and group B's Angola and Senegal meet in the semifinals of the 22nd African Basketball Championship in Alexandria. The final will take place on Saturday, with the winner clinching both the cup and a spot in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens next summer.
Twelve teams are taking part in the championship that launched last Thursday at the Alexandria stadium and Mubarak Hall. Divided into two groups of six teams each, the preliminaries ended Tuesday with two teams from each group qualifying to the semifinal.
Much to the nation's delight, the national team has displayed strong performances this week, beating Mozambique 98-53 in the championship opener; Central Africa 91-84; and Algeria in group A -- taking Egypt to the top of the group. In group B, defending champions Angola beat archrivals Senegal to top group A.
All three of the main contenders have an intense history with the championship. Egypt has organised the championship five times before; twice in Cairo and three times in Alexandria. The Egyptian national team won the title at home all five times; the last victory in 1983 in Alexandria. Since then, Angola has claimed the title five times and Senegal once. Twenty years later, Egypt is looking for a repeat.
Alexandria 2003 is the fourth time that the city hosts the event; an appropriate locale of choice given that the fans of Alexandria are known to be crazy about basketball. Since the start of the tournament, the stands have been packed with fans; thousands of them inside, and double that number outside the stadium.
"The Egyptian team has been doing good so far," said Adel Sabri, head coach of Egypt's national team. "We hope to please the fanatic crowd for their great support to us. Despite some team injuries, we have trained hard and hope to claim the title. We face strong competition from the toughest two teams in the championship -- Angola and Senegal. They're both coming to the championship with their full force, and the back-up of all their professional players who are based in the US and Europe," he added.
Th head coach of the Angolian team, however, had other sentiments, telling the press that he wasn't quite satisfied with his team's performance at the start of the championship.
"Usually at the beginning of any tournament, most teams want to win in order to gain more points," he said, explaining that although his team defeated Senegal 73- 63, and South Africa 101- 55, performance was not up to par. "Basketball is not only about winning points," he said. "Basketball is an interesting and exciting game. The fans don't come to watch a team scoring and winning all the time, but to enjoy the play as well. The players have to entertain the audience who have come to see them showing their best skills, talents, passes, dunks and pressing the opponent." The coach confirmed, however, that his team would play better in future games, and display the skills which have made it the best team in Africa.
While Angola's reputation is huge, their coach's ego is not -- he recognises the task ahead.
"Recognising your opponent is the first step towards beating it," he explained, noting his respect for teams such as Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Central Africa and Nigeria. Egypt, he added, was his greatest fear, given the challenge of meeting the hosts amidst their adoring fans.
Other coaches see the challenge as slim. The head coach of Central Africa, Jean- Paul, expressed his perspective on the Cup, saying that Angola was the top favourite to win, with Egypt's chances in snatching the title being limited.
But as the debate and speculation on the outcome continues, one issue has taken a unanimous vote. The championship's organisation has been met with a unison of applause. Alain Ekra, president of the African Basketball Confederation, praised the organising committee for its success, saying that the opening ceremony was spectacular -- the best he has seen throughout his basketball career.
"It's not surprising," he shared with basketball fans. "Egypt has been known for its leadership of the game since its creation. Egypt was the first to play the game and establish a federation in 1930."
Whether Egypt will clinch the cup awaits to be seen. If it doesn't, however, they do have one win under the belt; that of basketball fans and officials from around the world. If it comes out with nothing else, Egypt has likely won itself the bid to host the World Championship.
