CAIRO (Egypt) - Along with Mali, Egypt are one of the most familiar teams to the FIBA U18 Women's African Championship, a competition they have finished on the podium five times.

Playing this year's competition in Madagascar presents a new challenge for Egypt, who have hosted three of the last four editions of the tournament.

To get to know more about the Cleopatras, we bring you some fact files of the team.  

Team: Egypt
FIBA Ranking: 31st (World); 3rd (Africa)
Last participation at U18 Women African Championship: 2020
Best result at U18 Women African Championship: African Champions (2020, 2010)
How they qualified for the 2022 U18 Women African Championship: Egypt qualified for the Final Round by virtue of winning the last African Championship two years ago.
World: Egypt have featured at four editions of the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup (2011, 2015, 2017 and 2021). In addition to the U19 Worlds, Egypt have featured at three editions of the U17 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (2014, 2020 and 2022).
History/Qualification: Egypt haven't missed any of the last six editions of the FIBA U18 Women's African Championship, having hosted the competitions four times (2010, 2014, 2016 and 2020).

Players to watch out: Jana Elalfy and Jana Sallman. These two 16-year-olds head to Madagascar after stellar performances in the 2022 FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World World Cup, where they helped Egypt to a 11th-place finish.

Elalfy and Sallman  - two 191cm centers - recorded Egypt's highest efficiency rate in Hungary in July. 

While Elalfy averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds, Sallman contributed 9.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. 

Both players played important roles in helping Egypt finish second in the 2021 FIBA U16 Women's African Championship in Cairo. 

Head Coach: Mostafa Hadhood coached Egypt to the title of the 2020 FIBA U18 Women's African  Championship in Cairo.

Hadhood served as assistant coach of Egypt's men's team under Spaniard Juan Orenga, who led the Pharaohs during the 2017 FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers.

A former player, who excelled as a prolific three-point shooter, Hadhood has started his journey as this U18 team's coach as an assistant, but was promoted to the main job just before the start of the 2020 U18 Women's African Championship. 

Outlook: One thing that Egypt are fully aware of is that they are the team to beat. After all they are the reigning African champions who dared to interrupt Mali's dominance two years ago.

The question is, 'Can the two-time African champions win their first African title outside of Egypt'?

With a squad that is expected to count on five or six players from the 2022 U17 Women's Basketball World Cup early this month in Hungary, Egypt won't lack competitiveness, especially because the team has been in camp for just over a month.

A thorough look into Egypt's squad, it's fair to affirm that this team has the potential to reach the semis.  

FIBA