Group C: Rwanda, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon

Group A: Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Ivory Coast

Group B: Angola, Central Africa, Morocco and Uganda

Group D: Senegal, Mozambique, Egypt and South Africa

Rwanda men’s senior national basketball team has been drawn in Group C at this year’s FIBA-African Basketball Championship, which is scheduled for September 6-16 in Senegal and Tunisia respectively.

The draws were held on Sunday at The Westin Turtle Bay Resort and Spa in Balaclava, Mauritius in a ceremony that was also used to unveil the newly designed FIBA Afrobasket trophy.

The 29th edition of Africa’s biggest basketball tournament was initially supposed to be hosted by Angola but they pulled out because of the country’s presidential elections that will take place around the same period.

It was later announced, on June 30, that Senegal and Tunisia will jointly host the competition. Senegal will host Group B and Group D matches, while Tunisia will host Group A and Group C as well as knockout stages.

Rwanda qualified for the continental showpiece on a wildcard after failing to land direct qualification earlier this year from FIBA Africa Zone V Championships where Moise Mutokambali’s men finished third behind hosts Egypt and Uganda.

The last time that Rwanda played Afrobasket on wildcard was in 2011 in Madagascar.

Rwanda returns to Afrobasket scene after four years, having failed to qualify for the 28th edition in 2015 at the expense of Egypt and Uganda in Kampala. Among group C opponents, are hosts Tunisia, who are potentially Rwanda’s biggest challengers for the place in the knockout round.

After this year, Afrobasket is changing from taking place once in two years, to once in four years, which means that the 30th edition of Men’s African Basketball Championships will take place in 2021.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw