Al Ahly target maiden FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cup title
CAIRO (Egypt) - Egyptian giants Al Ahly are confident they will challenge for the crown at the FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cup 2019 set to be hosted at the Cairo Indoor Stadium from December 6-15.
CAIRO (Egypt) - Egyptian giants Al Ahly are confident they will challenge for the crown at the FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cup 2019 set to be hosted at the Cairo Indoor Stadium from December 6-15.
Playing in front of their families and friends, the Egyptian outfit has vowed to throw everything that they have at this competition to become the first team from their country to lift this trophy.
Only one North African side has ever won the continental competition dating back to 1995 when Stade Tunisien defeated AS Bopp from Senegal in the Tunisian capital of Tunis. The event has been dominated by sub-Saharan African teams for the last 24 editions.
"WE ARE EXCITED TO PLAY AT HOME IN FRONT OF OUR FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS BUT THAT INCREASES THE PRESSURE THAT WE DO NOT WANT TO LET ANYONE GO HOME SAD. WE WANT TO WIN ALL OUR GAMES ESPECIALLY BECAUSE AL AHLY HAS VERY MANY FANS AND THEY KNOW NOTHING BUT WINNING."
Fresh from winning the FIBA 3x3 Africa Cup in Uganda, the Egyptian trio of Soraya Degheidy, Nouralla Abdelalim and Hala Elshaarawy who all feature for Al Ahly, are hoping to use the same energy to conquer Africa.
In an exclusive interview with FIBA.basketball, Al Ahly poster girl Degheidy explained that Egyptian women's basketball is on the rise and hosting this tournament is very timely for them.
"We want to show everyone that Egypt is coming as everyone can see in the last two tournaments how fast we have improved ourselves. It is only about our team spirit. If we are not as professional as the other African players, we have our hearts and spirits."
"We are excited to play at home in front of our families, friends and supporters but that increases the pressure that we do not want to let anyone go home sad. We want to win all our games especially because Al Ahly has very many fans and they know nothing but winning."
Al Ahly will rely on Degheidy's individual brilliance but Abdelalilm and Elshaarawy's presence in the paint will come in handy in their quest to conquer Africa - a tall order in itself.
With the same ambitions are the reigning champions Ferroviario de Maputo and five-time record winners InterClube who will be seeking to win their first title since 2016 but Al Ahly are determined to end the nine-year dominance of Angolan and Mozambican teams.
Degheidy emphasized, "We want to win this competition. There is no other option. All the three players that won the 3x3 Africa Cup are from Al Ahly and we took the trophy home so I think we are confident enough to take this championship because we already know how to do it."
The 24-year old shooting guard, who has come through the Egypt U16 and U18 teams, has come of age and her fighting spirit along with her skills stand out at any competition she goes to and this time, a lot more is at stake.
This is the moment to show the basketball fraternity that Egyptian women can do the job too and what better place to do than at home.
However, Degheidy is quick to note that, "Playing at home brings pressure sometimes but actually I am okay with it. I have played in front of so many fans here and it is so nice to hear the supporters : Go Soraya. That makes me the happiest that they are waiting for me to get the win."
A total of 10 teams will compete for the trophy including hosts Al Ahly, defending champions Ferroviario de Maputo (Mozambique), five-time record winners InterClube from Angola, Sporting Club (Egypt), FAP (Cameroon), BC Energie (Benin), Kenya Ports Authority, Mountain of Fire (Nigeria), ASB Makomeno (DR Congo) and Air Warrior (Nigeria).
FIBA