Egypt have eyes on FIBA U16 Women's African Championship trophy

CAIRO (Egypt) - Egypt have a huge task before them as the tip-off of the FIBA U16 African Women Championship draws near.

The hosts emerge among four other teams (Algeria, Chad, Gabon and Uganda) that have their eyes on the title.

On four of the six editions of the FIBA U16 Championship for Women, Egypt have had their hopes of picking the gold medal dashed by perennial winners Mali but this time around, they want to make this edition a different one.

Head Coach of the team, Emad Mahmoud is only eight months on the job but he is bent on breaking the Mali jinx.

Mahmoud told FIBA.basketball that his team has worked hard enough and deserve to have their hands on the championship trophy.

"Mali is a great team no doubt but as we all know only a few countries in Africa are interested in junior basketball. Egypt is improving and is ready to compete against Mali and other countries that will be in Cairo. I believe we will do much better this time around."

"WE HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT THE LEVEL OF THE OTHER TEAMS IN AFRICA BUT WE WILL DO OUR BEST."- Coach Mahmoud

Coach Mahmoud admits that his women are good players good and talented. "We respect all teams and expect many teams to show a good level of competition."

He stated that having travelled to Serbia has helped the team’s experience. "I think the trip to Serbia was a good one for us. It means under our flag, we're looking to win and preparing a good team for Egypt.

"While in Serbia, we had four games in one week and two of them were against the Serbia national U16 team. Serbia was very revealing for us. We are ready for the championship though there are a few injuries, we will be alright.

"We have no idea about the level of the other teams in Africa but we will do our best without disrespecting all teams. Our target is to be champions of Africa."

FIBA