The Afrobasket 2021 championship, which concluded at Kigali Arena on Sunday, September 5, will be noted in history as the stepping stone to the development of African Basketball. Held in Kigali from August 24- September 5, the two-week event which brought together 16 teams was hailed as a successful tournament full of excitement at both ends, following the return of spectators in the Arena after Covid-19 guidelines were relaxed. From Tavares’ incredible dunk that shattered the backboard to Tunisia’s back-to-back champions, Times Sport looks at 5 things worth noting about the tournament. Forfeit for Cameroun The Cameroon basketball team received zero classification point after losing their opening Group D game against South Sudan per forfeit after it emerged that Cameroonians “breached Covid-19 protocols” for Afrobasket competitions as indicated by the FIBA Africa’s press statement. The game was as a result awarded to the South Sudanese at the score of 20-0. Walter Tavares shatters backboard Walter “Edy” Tavares wreaked havoc as he broke the backboard following a powerful slam dunk during the game against Angola. With 1:00 minute left in a tightly contested game, following the missed layup from his teammate, the former Cavaliers big man grabbed the offensive rebound and dunked the ball to the basket to tie the game, and eventually breaking the backboard during this process. Taveres’ bucket helped Cape Verde force overtime against Angola, eventually winning the game 77-71 in favor of Tavares’ team. South Sudan, a rising giant in Basketball South Sudan, who were making their first appearance in the Afrobasket, is sending a warning message that they are on the road to becoming new African basketball kings, despite finishing 8th in overall rankings of the tournament after being knocked out in the quarter-finals by Tunisia who went on to win the tournament. Since it became an independent country in 2011, South Sudan has been working hard to build successful basketball programmes. Now, basketball in the country which has the tallest population on the continent proves to be at its pace of improvement as witnessed in the tournament. Rwanda Rwanda, led by Senegalese head coach Cheickh Sarr, bowed out of the Afrobasket 2021 tournament after a surprising 68-72 defeat to Guinea in a playoff match that was aimed at seeking a quarter-final ticket. The hosts opened their Afrobasket 2021 campaign in style with a resounding 82-68 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo. Two days later, Rwanda recorded their biggest win at Afrobasket after beating Angola 71-68. With Kigali Arena almost at full capacity, what else could have Rwanda asked for to sail through a tough Cape Verde team had other plans; they never panicked, beating Rwanda 82-74 in Group A’s last game. Rwanda finished their Group Phase run with a 2-1 record. Liz Mills, the only female coach at Afrobasket Liz Mills became the first woman to coach a team at a men’s continental championship when she led Kenya at Afrobasket 2021. Although the Kenyans failed to impress under the Australian, she left a message that women can do what men do in Basketball. Mills struck a blow for equality, too, proving that a woman can lead a man’s team in the toughest tournament on the African continent. Mills hopes her experience will help other women receive fair consideration when they try to get top jobs in men’s sports Tunisia, the kings of African basketball again It’s the Tunisians’ third AfroBasket title, having claimed the trophy in 2011 in Madagascar and the 2017 edition of the tournament at home. With yet another triumphant campaign in Kigali, Tunisia became the first team to win back-to-back AfroBasket titles since Angola in 2009. Makram Ben Romdhane was named the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Most Valuable Player. Tunisia closed their FIBA Afrobasket 2021 campaign with a perfect 6-0 record.
