Today

Espoir v UNR

Kist v Marine

Sunday

Kie v Marine

CSK B v Rusizi

Women

Kist v Isae

UNR v Isae

Apr v Kist

Prolific shooting guard Valery Uwineza is set to make a forced comeback to lead Espoir against Rwanda National University (UNR) in Butare this afternoon.

Uwineza, the most dependable and capped player on the team, has been out with an ankle injury since July, a misfit which ruled him out of the 2007 Afro-basket competitions that were staged in Angola in August.

"I have not fully recovered but this is a crucial game. I have been training with some difficulty but that shouldn’t be a big problem for me to play in Butare,’ Uwineza told Times Sport yesterday.

Uwineza is a big boast for the 2006 league finalists after the departure of two of their star players Jean Louis Habineza and Gilbert Ndagizimana.

According to Espoir’s team manager Claude Kabenga, the pair relocated to Uganda after the first round for their university education.

"We are missing the pair because they were very instrumental in our first round campaign,’ Kabenga noted. Like CSK A in pool A, Espoir also ended their first round campaign unbeaten on eight points and would be aiming to match that in the second round.

UNR who are also in a tight race for this year’s play-offs are second in the pool with seven points and are expected to give Espoir a good run for maximum points this afternoon.

In the other intriguing clashes, in-form Marine entertains Kigali Institute of Education (Kist) at primature while CSK B faces Rusizi in the other pool B tie.

Ends