Basketball dominates Mozambique Sports Awards 2017

MAPUTO - Basketball is clearly one of the most popular sports in Mozambique, and when the local Sports Awards 2017 were announced last week, it became even bigger. 

Basketball won not one, not two, but six annual awards.

Nasir Sale, who guided Mozambique to the fourth-place at the FIBA Women's AfroBasket 2017, before guiding Ferroviario da Beira to a Sixth-Place finish at FIBA Africa Champions Cup 2017 - was named Head Coach of the year.

Sale's Ferroviario da Beira won the annual award for Mozambique's Men's basketball club while FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cup 2017 runners-up Ferroviario de Maputo claimed the country's Women's basketball club of the year.

At the individual level, Mozambique forward Leia Dongue - who currently plays for Gernika Bizkaia in Spain's Liga Feminina - enriched her trophy cabinet with another two awards.

The 26-year-old won the awards for Athlete of the Year as well as the Most Popular Athlete of 2017.

Chanaya Pinto

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Chanaya Pinto, who made her FIBA Women's AfroBasket debuts last summer, was named Best Revelation Player of the year.

FIBA