Browsing Tag Section

RWANDA’S junior Hoops claimed an 11th place finish after losing to Morocco in the classification match (9-11) in the on-going Afro-basket U-18 Men’s Championship in Maputo, Mozambique.

Rwanda lost to Morocco 66-74 to finish the tournament on a worst note. The junior hoops lost all quarters-12-17, 07-13, 19-23 and 18-21 respectively.

Morocco finished ninth after beating Gabon 77-71. The losers finished tenth ahead of Rwanda.

Nenad Amanovic’s young troops went to Mozambique with an intention of reaching the quarter finals.

Cote d’Ivoire who are set to meet in the finals yesterday by press time will also represent Africa in the World Junior Championship which will be held next year in Mexico.

Rwanda men’s U-18 Basketball team endured another painful defeat against Ghana on Monday as the boys lost 43-48, to record their third successive defeat at the ongoing Afrobasket U-18 Men’s Championship in Maputo, Mozambique.

The loss brings the morale of the whole team down, having started brilliantly against hosts Mozambique by thrashing them 62-34 on the opening day of the championship. They then went on to lose against Tunisia 38-43 and Mali 33-46. The final fixture in the group will be against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The championships which kicked off August 16^th will run until 25^th the same month.

Day 1, Thursday

Senegal 73-69 Gaborone

Cote d’Ivoire  60-51 Angola

Mozambique 34-62 Rwanda

RWANDA’S Junior Hoops ensured a bright start to this year’s Afrobasket U-18 Men’s Championship after thumping hosts Mozambique 62-34 at Desportivo Indoor Stadium in Maputo.

After lifting the Zone 5 trophy, the junior hoops are planning to finish atleast among the top six.

With a brilliant start against hosts, Rwanda must maintain their good start against other Group A opponents DR Congo, Mali, Ghana and Tunisia respectively.

The team was scheduled to face Tunisia on Friday afternoon by press time. In Maputo, the team will be relying on the trio of point guard Olivier Shyaka, Mohammed Rafiki and Eric Ngenzi who were without doubt the team’s outstanding players against Kenya in the zonal qualification matches.

In other matches played on the first day; Senegal beat Gaborone 73-69 while Cote d’Ivoire edged out Angola 60-51.

Los Angeles lakers Point Guard Steve Blake is in Rwanda for a nine-day state visit were he will have the opportunity of holding training clinics with local basketball players and coaches.

According to Rwanda basketball federation (Ferwaba), blake is in the country to look at some of the projects that he partners with New Life Ministries, an NGO that looks after orphans and also provides education to impoverished children, help hundreds of women and street children receive vocational training.

Blake will also play in two friendly matches against league champions KBC and a non-league Basketball club-Pebbles Basketball club.

Rwanda Basketball Federation Secretary General Richard Mutabazi said “He (Blake) will impart important skills to local players and coach and also inspire them.”

Africa New Life ministries currently provides nearly 1/2 million meals to those in need, manages two schools, three churches and six orphanage homes in Rwanda.

The Rwanda U-18 basketball boys’ team are set to hold a training camp in Gabon as they prepare to take off to Mozambique for this years’ African Junior Championships that are slated for 16^th to 26^th August 2012. After their brilliant display during zone V qualifiers against Kenya in men’s category, the team hopes on building on that performance on a continental level.

And things couldn’t get better for the Junior Hoops as US based duo Kevin Mbundu and Marvin Mugisha were added to the team that is holding a camp at La Palisse Nyandungu. It is expected the two will be among the contingent that will take off to Gabon for the preparation camp.

On Sunday the 22^nd July, Rwanda made an historic and emphatic win over Kenya, beating them 68-29 and 94-38 in a two-legged affair to book their ticket to the finals.

Only two teams -Kenya and Rwanda- took part in the Zone 5 championships played in Kigali and as such played each other twice.

The winner of the African championships will qualify to represent Africa at the U-19 world Youth championships to be held next year.

The Rwanda boys U-18 basketball team on Sunday thrashed their Kenyan counterparts 94-38 to qualify for the African Youth Championships that will be staged in Mozambique. The boys had also beaten the Kenyans 68-29 on Saturday to deservedly book a place in the finals of the championships.

Luck, however was not on the ladies side as they lost to Kenya 71-58 on Sunday, after winning 54-50 the day before. The Kenyan ladies went to win the tie on better points.

Only two teams -Kenya and Rwanda- took part in the Zone 5 championships played in Kigali and as such played each other twice.

The winner of the African championships will qualify to represent Africa at the U-19 world Youth championships to be held next year.

The national U-18 basketball coach Nenad Amanovic is urging his team players to be cautious when playing Kenya in the Zone five qualifiers set for this weekend at Amahoro indoor stadium.

Rwanda will only come up against Kenya in a two-day event after regional countries (Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Ethiopia) bowed out of the tournament due in financial constraints.

Kenyan players are known to be physical and the Croatian-born coach has urged his players to not underestimate their strongest rivals but to go out there with focused minds.

“I have received reports that the Kenyans are very physical, so we are working on how to increase our aggressiveness to counter the physical aspect of their game,”

“It will be very competitive because we had penciled out Kenya as the biggest challenge.” the Croatian coach said dispelling claims that a two-team tourney will not be exiting.

The junior hoops will play two matches each in the men and women categories with the winners qualifying for African men and women Basketball championship slated for August and September in Mozambique and Madagascar respectively.

Not many know much about the guy who dominated Game 1 of the NBA Finals, other than he’s pretty good.

Kevin Durant is a mystery even to some of the players trying to beat him.

“It’s one of those things where I respect his game, but I don’t know him, either. I know probably just as much as you guys know,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said to Kigalidunker.com.

He doesn’t seek the spotlight and it seldom comes to Oklahoma looking for him. He rarely makes much news and wouldn’t read it anyway, preferring the quiet life LeBron James gave up any hope of when he went to Miami and promised all those championships at that big welcoming party two summers ago.

Durant instead committed to remaining in Oklahoma City that same month, bypassing a big announcement by revealing on Twitter he had agreed to a contract extension.

A few more performances like he had in the opener, when he scored 17 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter of the Thunder’s 105-94 victory, and Durant could take his place as the league’s biggest star.

Yet he pays no more attention to praise than he does criticism — unless it comes from within his organization.

“I have faith in all those things that I do day in and day out — coming in, working hard, believing in myself and my teammates, and believing in the system,” Durant said.

“Whatever happens after that, it happens, as long as I know that I come in and give it my all every single day.

“I can’t worry about what other people say or expectations they put on me. It’s just all about how I view myself and how my teammates view me and we’ll go from there.”

Thirty players national basketball team players will this week get involved in intensive training in preparation for the Zone five qualifiers scheduled to be held in Kigali from July 17-22, 2012.

The new basketball federation team led by Secretary General Richard Mutabazi confirmed the development on Thursday.

The team will train three times a day starting this Friday at Amahoro indoor stadium until mid June when they enter into a two-week residential camp to fine tune ahead of the tournament’s kick off.

“Most of the players who will compose the national team are mainly students from local clubs but the team will as well be boasted by the experienced players who formed part of the 2010 U-18 team and are now pursuing their careers in the U.S,”

The week long competition will attract eight teams which include Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Burundi. The tourney will also feature a women’s competition.

Rwanda finished in 6th position last time around despite being hosts but with Egypt having qualified Coach Nenad Amanovic will fancy his team’s chances.

APR were this weekend were crowned champions of the Rwanda Basketball league, in both men and women category. In their last fixture, in men category APR thrashed Kigali Basketball Club (KBC) by 110 points to 63 to claim the title. The victory was a convincing one for a star-studded side like APR who have in the previous seasons dominated in the Rwanda Basketball League.

In other related news starting this coming Saturday at Nyagatare in Eastern Province, Imbuto Foundation will be organizing a tournament that is directed towards the fight against malaria. Participating teams will be made up of three members per team as opposed to the usual 5.