Zim hosts AfroBasket men’s qualifiers

SENIOR men’s basketball coach Emmanuel Mukandi is confident they will pull through when they take part in the AfroBasket qualifiers from March 19 to 25 in Harare.

Zimbabwe will join seven other countries from Zone Six and Zone Seven in the competition to decide the three countries that will progress to the AfroBasket Championships to be held in August in Congo.

The eight countries from the two zones were combined and divided into two Groups with Zimbabwe being drawn against Botswana, Mozambique and Madagascar in Group B. Zimbabwe was also picked as the hosts for Group B matches. Group A consists of Zambia, Angola, Seychelles and South Africa and matches for this group will be played in Lusaka from March 12 to 18.

The top two teams from the groups automatically qualify for the finals while the runners-up from the two Groups will battle it out for the third ticket in home and away matches.

Mukandi said their challenge is likely to come from Mozambique but is upbeat they stand a good chance of making it to the finals.

“I think we are very lucky that we didn’t get Angola . . . Mozambique are very strong but our chance of coming number one or number two is good. With all our foreign-based players we should actually win the group,” said Mukandi.

The team is expected to go into camp today at Prince Edward School together with the women’s side which is also preparing for qualifiers to be held in Mozambique from March 3 to 12.

The camp is running until Sunday.