ESPOIR BASKETBALL CLUB are aiming to win this year’s Gisembe Memorial tournament which is scheduled for June 6, 7 and 8 at Amahoro Indoor stadium. According to the head coach Jean Bahufite, the organisers are keen to add the forthcoming tournament title to the league and playoffs success to wrap up what would be the club’s most memorable season. “We are determined to win this tournament, we have been prepared well and we hope we will do better than we have done in recent years,” Bahufite told Sunday Sport on Friday. The league champions have already strengthened their squad with point guard Lionel Hakizimana from archrivals APR and forward Olivier Shyaka from last year’s champions Kigali Basketball Club. The 10 teams will take part in this year’s edition, including three from Rwanda in men’s category and two for the women category, while other five teams will come from Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. The Rwandan teams will include Espoir, APR and defending champions Circle Sportif de Kigali, Muzinga and Urumuri from Burundi and Warriors from Uganda in the men’s category. The women’s category will have APR and National University of Rwanda, Berco Stars from Burundi and Promotion Jeunesse Basketball from DRC. Emmanuel Ntarugera aka Gisembe, was killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Espoir will also be honouring other players and officials who were killed during the Genocide.
