As preparations for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2024 take shape, APR basketball club will play four more friendly games with Egyptian side Al Ittihab and Bangui SC. The team is fresh from a 10-day camp in Qatar during which they played five friendly games and went on to win them all. ALSO READ: Basketball: APR’s Mazen Trakh lauds team’s progress after Qatar camp Club Secretary General of the club, Eric Salongo told Times Sport that will next play against Central African side Bangui Sporting Club on March 15 and 17 before taking on Egyptian side Al Ittihad on March 22 and 24 in Kigali. Both teams provide a good test for APR who are on a mission to become the first Rwandan team to lift BAL championship on their debut appearance. Bangui SC has enjoyed success recently in BAL, while Al Ittihad is expected to give APR some competition that could help them to challenge some Northern African teams that they could potentially face at BAL 2024. ALSO READ: APR beat Al Arabi in last BAL warmup game in Qatar The army side’s head coach Mazen Trakh is convinced that the friendly matches with Al Ittihad will give him an idea of how his side can handle the likes of BAL holders Al Ahly who are hoping to defend the title. The Rwandan champions start their BAL quest in May. They were pooled in the Sahara Conference alongside Tunisia’s US Monastir, AS Douanes of Senegal and Nigerian Champions Rivers Hoopers. The Saharaa conference regular season will take place from May 4-12 in Dakar, Senegal.
