The national basketball team has been holding intense preparations for the upcoming African Basketball Championship (Afrobasket) qualifiers window 2. Starting on February 17 and ending on 21st, the qualifiers will see Rwanda rub shoulders with South Sudan, Nigeria and Mali as her opponents in Group D. Tanzania-born tactician Henry Mwinuka will lead the team as interim head coach, assisted by Karim Nkusi, a former APR basketball team head coach. Here are five things you need to know ahead of the Afrobasket qualifiers: 12 teams will play in Monastir, Tunisia Twelve teams will play in the city of Monastir, Tunisia.The city will host three groups: A, D and E. Group A is made up of Tunisia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Madagascar. Group D has Rwanda, Nigeria, South Sudan and Mali. Group E has Egypt, Uganda, Cape Verde and Morocco. The remaining groups will play from Yaounde, Cameroon. The teams that finish in the first three places of each group qualify for the 30th edition of Africa’s premier basketball competition – the final Afrobasket tournament. Rwanda has already qualified by being the host of the final tournament which will take place later this year. Rwanda keen to improve on previous performance In the first window that took place in November last year in Kigali, Rwanda – the host nation failed to register a single win. The team finished at the bottom of Group D having been subjected to three defeats out of the three matches it played against Nigeria, Mali and South Sudan. However, the team looks to improve its performance. The team has made a number of changes including hiring Henry Mwinuka as the interim head coach, as well as adding new players to the squad for example Britain-based center Prince Chinenye. Hopefully, the team can put up an improved performance to boost their confidence before the final tournament. Rwanda added over 5 new players to the national team The national team was beefed up with new players that had not taken part in the first window of the qualifiers. These include Ntore Habimana (Canada-based), Sano Gasana (USA-based), Ibeh Prince Chinenye (England-based), Jean-Paul (IPR-Kigali) and Marius Tresor Ntwari (APR). Meanwhile, Dylan Schommer Kalecyezi (Sweden) and Adonis Jovon Filer (USA) who played for the national team in the previous window did not return to the national team for window 2. Nigeria, the team to beat Currently, Nigeria lead Group D after winning all the Window 1 qualifier matches last November. South Sudan is in second place, Mali in third, and Rwanda is the last in the group. Nigeria, who are the current leaders may be reckoned the favourites to top the group. Mwinuka and his boys have a big task going into the competition, facing Nigeria and the rest of the teams in the group. But hopefully, things can turn out well. Venue All three groups will play at the Salle Mohamed Mzali Arena in Monastir, Tunisia. The stadium accommodates 5,000 people. Final squad: Hubert Kabare Bugingo, Steven Hagumintwari, Kami Kabange, Elie Kaje, Dieudonne Ndizeye Ndayisaba, Jean-Paul Ndoli, Pascal Niyonkuru, Wilson Nshobozwabyosenumukiza, Marius Tresor Ntwari, Sedar Sagamba, Olivier Shyaka, Axel Mpoyo, Ntore Habimana, Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Gasana, Ibeh Prince Chibenye and Sano Gasana.
