Thursday

Patriots     Vs    Dynamo         16:30

Hawassa   Vs    City Oilers     19:00

RWANDA’s Patriots will be hoping to get off to a winning start when they take on Burundian side Dynamo in their first game in Group D Qualifiers of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) on Thursday.

The game starts 4:30pm CAT, at the National Indoor Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The group remains with five teams following the last minute withdrawal of Malawi’s Brave Hearts.

The Rwandan champions, Patriots, will have to finish among top two to be guaranteed of a place in the next round of qualifiers.

Speaking to Times Sport in a telephone interview from Tanzania on Wednesday, Patriots captain Aristide Mugabe said that he and his teammates were in great form and mentally ready to accomplish the mission.

"We understand our mission here and I believe we have what it takes to accomplish it. All the players (we) are fit, and ready to fight for a winning start tomorrow,” said the star point guard.

Patriots will need to overcome stiff competition from Ugandan giants City Oilers, home side JKT, Hawassa of Ethiopia and Dynamo if they are to finish top of the group.

Henry Mwinuka’s Patriots go into the tournament widely seen as one of the favourites along with City Oilers, whom they will face on Sunday.

The last time the two sides met was in October 2017 when City Oilers beat Patriots to retain the FIBA Africa Zone 5 Club Championships – now a defunct competition.

After Thursday’s game, Patriots will take on Hawasa Friday before delighting JKT the following day.

The Basketball Africa League’s inaugural season starts in February 2020, with the continental tournament’s semi-finals and the final due to be held at the Kigali Arena. The state-of-the-art facility will also host the 2021 African Basketball Championships – Afrobasket.

Come 2021, Rwanda will become just the second Eastern Africa country – after Kenya – and the first since 1993 to host the continent’s biggest basketball competition.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com