Can anyone stop Mali's dominance at FIBA U18 Women's African Championship?

MAPUTO (FIBA U18 Women's African Championship 2018) - The race for two slots for African countries for next year's FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup starts on Friday in the Mozambican capital city of Maputo.

From August 10-19, eight countries from all corners of Africa - Angola, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda - will do battle for the right to join some of best basketball nations on the planet next year.

 

While looks will be on the FIBA U18 Women's African Championship debutants Cape Verde and Rwanda, the most frequently asked question is 'Can anyone stop Mali's dominance in the competition?' 

As winners of six edition of the FIBA U18 Women's African Championship, Mali are clearly the team to beat.

At a first glance, hosts Mozambique, Egypt and Angola emerge as potential threats to Mali, however, they will need to be more than theoretical title contenders.

After all, Mali currently hold a 13-0 winning streak dating back to the FIBA U18 Women's African Championship 2012 where they lost to hosts Senegal.

And to make sure, everything goes according to plan, Mali brought to Maputo Aminata Traore, Sika Kone and Aminata Sangare - a trio that ignited the West Africans to last year's FIBA U16 Women's African Championship title in Beira, Mozambique.

Sika Kone (Mali)

And more recently, both 16-year-olds Kone and Sangare made some noise at the just concluded FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 in Belarus.

While Kone led all scorers with 16.9 points per game, Sangare topped all rebounders with 13 boards per contest as Mali finished in tenth in the 16-team World Cup. 

"Our main opponents are taller than us, but my team is ready for the challenge ahead of us," acknowledged Angola head coach Anibal Moreira, who expected to add a few players from the team that competed in Belarus last month.

Meanwhile, Mozambique head coach Leonel Manhique insisted that his team has done the homework. 

Leonel Manhique (Mozambique)

“We have scouted these three teams very carefully, especially the two teams (Angola and Mali) who played in the [U17] World Cup, and we know what to expect from them," Manhique is quoted as saying to the local media.

Maputo last organized the FIBA U18 Women’s African Championship in 1996.

FIBA