ONE WEEK after the conclusion of the local edition, the regional Gisembe memorial starts today and will run for the next three days at different courts within the City of Kigali.

According to the tentative schedule, the opening match starts this afternoon at Amahoro indoor stadium at 4pm.

The draws were supposed to take place last evening in presence of invited participants from Uganda, Burundi and DR Congo, that had not yet arrived, according to Basketball association Secretary General Richard Mutabazi.

Rwanda’s two-time reigning champions Espoir, who claimed the local edition on Sunday after beating CSK 81-79, will be among the fovourites.

 "We are ready for the battle. Winning the local tournament boosted our confidence that we can also win the regional edition,” Espoir coach Jean Bahufite told Times Sport on Thursday.

Defending champions Urunani will not participate in this year’s edition following injuries within the team.  The three-day competition will be contested by eleven teams, five Rwandan (three men’s and two women’s) and six invited teams (three men’s and three women’s) respectively.