Egypt loses to Nigeria in the Afrobasket Championship

CAIRO – 20 August 2017: The Egyptian Women’s Basketball Team lost to Nigeria on August 20 in the Afrobasket tournament held in Mali from August 18-27.

Egypt’s winning streak ended after losing for the first time in the tournament against Nigeria with a (106 -72) score.

Egypt managed to defeat Congo on August 18 in the opening game of the tournament with a score of 99-72. They then continued their winning streak on August 19 by beating Guinea with a score of 109-78.

Egypt’s coach, Amr Ashour, is expected to depend on his experienced players like Meral Abdel Gawad, Nour Aly and Rana Abdelfatah in the remaining games of the tournament.

Egypt plays in Group B alongside the reigning champions; Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea, DR Congo and Mozambique, while Group A includes Central African Republic, Tunisia, Angola, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and the host nation, Mali.

Amr Ashour chose the following players to represent the Egyptian national team in the tournament: Meral Asraf Abdel Gawad, Rana Abdelfatah, Nour Aly, Mennatalla Awad, Reem Osama, Radwa Sherif, Mai Helwa, Manar Ihab, Hala Mostafa, Soraya Deghady, Asrar Maged and Raneem al-Gedawy.

Ashour chose Meral Asraf Abdel Gawad, Rana Abdelfatah, Asrar Bakr and Radwa Sherif from the U-19 team, who participated in the U-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Italy last month, to support the first team squad.

Egypt won the gold medal in the first two editions in 1966 and 1968, while Senegal won the most titles, having won the gold medal 11 times.