FOR those who didn’t know, the Fiba Africa championship for women also counts as a qualifier for next year’s FIBA World Championship for Women in the Czech Republic. Team Fact-file Madagascar won the championship back in 1970 but have since struggled to make an impact in the biannual event.The team is a mixture of youth and experience and with home advantage on their side; the team fancy their chances this year. Drawn alongside nine-time record champions Senegal, Mauritius, Cameroon, South Africa and Mozambique, the hosts have been tipped to atleast qualify into the last eight. Tunisia have been so close yet so far to the championship title. While many believe that hosting the tournament is always a step closer to the title, it has not worked for the North Africans who were losing finalists in 1974 and 2001 against Senegal. In 2007, they were the third highest ranked African team in the world after Senegal and Nigeria. Tunisia will certainly be a handful for Rwanda. Ends
