Rwandan international Bella Murekatete has said that it’s the national pride that is at stake as Rwanda gets ready for the forthcoming Women’s Afrobasket Zone V qualifiers that starts on Monday, July 12 in Kigali. Murekatete, who led Rwanda’s national team to a fourth-place finish at the U-18 Women’s Africa championships in 2018 is optimistic that she and her teammates are ready to use the best out of home support to put on a show ahead of the tournament and make Rwandans proud. “For us, the fact that we will be playing in front of Rwandans is something that will give us the strength to perform well and we can’t wait for the tournament’s kick off,” Murekatete said. “We are going to play like a team, not as individuals. We have home advantage and we will fight from the beginning to the last minute. Our aim is to make the country proud, we are hungry for silverware and ready to improve in every game. I believe we have the ability to win the tournament,” she added South Sudan, Egypt and Kenya arrive in Kigali on Friday, July 9, and will immediately join a bubble at Onomo hotel after getting a PCR test for Covid-19. The women’s continental basketball showpiece is set to be held from September 17-22, in Yaounde, Cameroon. Host nation Cameroon alongside the 2019 women’s Afrobasket semi-finalists including reigning champions, Nigeria, runners-up Senegal as well as third and fourth-placed Mali and Mozambique automatically qualified for this year’s edition while the other seven slots are up for grabs. Regional qualifying tournaments across the continent are all happening this month, and a winner from each zone, will automatically book a place for the finals in Cameroun. Yaounde last hosted the tournament’s finals in 2015 and home side, Cameroon, finished second in the 12-nation competition.
