Reigning champions Espoir have launched a successful title defence after winning the first three matches of this year’s Basketball league which started June 22.The club missed the first opening rounds of the league because many of their players had been summoned to the national senior team which took part in the Mozambique Independence Day Cup.The zonal champions edged 30-Plus 91-63 mid last week in their first league game before beating Kigali Basketball Club 78-50 on Saturday, and then Cercle Sportif de Kigali 60-36 on Sunday.In other matches played over the weekend, APR defeated United Generation Basketball club (UGB) 56-46 on Saturday while Kigali Basketball Club (KBC) recorded the biggest win on Sunday after humiliating UGB 103-63.In the women category, Gisembe memorial tourney winners Ubumwe beat RAPP 55-45 on Saturday and registered a 62-44 win against RAPP again on Sunday.Four teams [two male and two female] namely;  National University of Rwanda (men and women), Kigali Institute of Education (men) and Circle Sportif de Kigali (women) withdrew from the national basketball league.Rusizi, Cercle Sportif de Kigali, United Generation Basketball [UGB], defending champion Espoir, 30-Plus, Kigali Basketball Club, APR and Gisenyi Basketball Club make up the men’s category.Only three teams; holders APR, Ubumwe and Rwanda Allied Peace for Progress (RAPP) make up the women’s basketball championship.Espoir top the standings with six points, one ahead of APR and Kigali Basketball Club. CSK, UGB and 30-Plus have four points each.