APR jetted out yesterday afternoon to Angola for this year’s Fiba-Africa Club championships after securing collective sponsorship from the Sports and Defense ministries.It is said that the two ministries raised Frw7 million which is what the club required for the trip.The event that will be staged in the Angolan capital, Luanda gets underway this Thursday and will run through to December 22.The 25-man contingent comprising of 15 players and 10 officials; six from the club and four from the Rwanda basketball federation jetted out yesterday aboard an Ethiopian Airlines plane and is expected to arrive in Luanda this afternoon.Making their debut at the coveted club competition, the Zone V club champions are drawn in Group A alongside last year’s finalists Primero De Agosto (Angola), Interclube (Angola), ASPAC (Benin), M.B.C (Guinea) and ASB Kauka of DR. Congo.Group B which also happens to be the toughest comprises of defending champions Petro Atletico (Angola), Niger Potters (Nigeria), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Stade Malien (Mali), BC Onatra (DR. Congo) and Ferroviario Da Beira of Mozambique. The top four clubs from each group will progress to the quarter-finals and APR’s coach Cliff Owuor believes that his club has an equal chance of getting to the next stage.“We have an equal chance like any other club in our group. We are not in the competition by mistake. We battled to get there and we believe we can get to the next stage if we play well,” Owuor said before the team’s departure yesterday.The winner of this event will represent Africa at next year’s world championship. APR is the first Rwanda club to qualify for the Fiba-Africa club championship. Ends
