Mali will be at full strength for the Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Africa
BAMAKO (Mali) - Mali are taking nothing for granted for next month's FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Africa as their full-strength 15-player preliminary squad suggests.
BAMAKO (Mali) - Mali are taking nothing for granted for next month's FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Africa as their full-strength 15-player preliminary squad suggests.
Mali will play Group B opposition Angola and Senegal from November 14-17 while African champions Nigeria, Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo will do battle in Group A.
Meiya Tirera, who had announced her retirement from the national team after the FIBA Women's AfroBasket 2019 two months ago, might have had a change of heart, as she will have another go.
Meiya Tirera (Mali)
The 33-year-old, who powered Mali with a team-high 14 points per game in Dakar, will be joined by two important players in form of Naignouma Coulibaly and Ramata Diakite - who both sat out the latest edition of the African Championship.
According to reports, head coach Silvain Lautie kept the majority of the team - including highly-talented Touty Gandega who made to the FIBA Women's AfroBasket All-Star team. Mali finished third in the Senegalese capital Dakar in August.
| Mali 15-player preliminary pool for the FIBA Africa 2019 Pre-Olympic Qualifiers | |||
| Kouta Camara | Adam Coulibaly | Mariam Coulibaly | Naignouma Coulibaly |
| Kankou Coulibaly | Ramata Diakite | Assetou Diakite | Goundou Diallo |
| Touty Gandega | Sika Kone | Aissata Maiga | Kaddia Maiga |
| Djeneba N'Diaye | Meiya Tirera | Nassira Traore | |
Mali's first Olympics appearance took place in Beijing in 2008, and although they tried to qualify for the London Games four years later, the Malians fell short in the Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Ankara, Turkey.
🇲🇱 Mali's point guard Touty Gandega came up big in Mali's win over DR Congo: 19 pts, 3 stl, 75% FG, 25 EFF.#AfroBasketWomen @BasketMalien @Poupexe pic.twitter.com/NRf4ScsAwk
— FIBA (@FIBA) August 13, 2019
The two winners of the FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Africa Semi-Finals will not play a Final as they will automatically advance to the 16-nation FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) where teams will be divided into four tournaments (groups) in February 2020.
For more information about the Women's National Team Competition System, click here.
FIBA