Rwandan star shooting guard Kenneth Gasana has been appointed the captain of the men’s national basketball team ahead of the second window of the FIBA World Cup 2023 qualifiers. He replaces Olivier Shyaka, a Rwanda Energy Group center, who has captained the national team for about two years. The qualifier games are scheduled for July 1 to 3 at the BK Arena in Kigali. The Rwandan national team are in camp at Famille Hotel and have been undertaking their daily training seassion at BK Arena. Gasana, 37, is currently the most experienced player on the team, having started to play for it in 2009. He was first named on the national basketball team that played in the 25th edition of the Fiba Afrobasket Championships for Men staged in Libya in 2009, where the team finished 13th. He went on to become Rwanda’s leading scorer at the 2009 FIBA Africa Championship, averaging 18.3 points per game, including a 31-point performance against Morocco, to help lead the Rwandans to a 9th place finish, their best performance ever at any African Championship. In 2010, Kenneth joined Morocco’s national basketball league side Hoceima for one season but won nothing and the next season, he switched to rivals Plaza Sports Basketball Club. Rwanda, which has been the region’s sole representative at the championship since 2007, finished in the 10th place at the 2013 championships, ahead of the likes of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique and Central African Republic. Overall, Kenneth Gasana was Rwanda’s top scorer with 87 points and one of the tournament’s most impressive performers. The team, is under the instruction of Senegalese tactician, Cheikh Sarr and his assistant Charles Mushumba. Rwanda will be looking to put up a strong performance in the second window in order to secure one of the three qualification places in the group. Rwanda will be up against Tunisia, Cameroon and South Sudan in Group B.
