Small crowds and lack of visibility have marked the opening day the on-going FIBA Africa Zone 5 Basketball Championship in Kampala that brings together most of the continent’s best from Oct. 1-8.
The competition for both women and men returned to Uganda after five years but the attendance so far is being dwarfed by numbers at midtable local league games.
Tipping off on Sunday, a few sports journalists, athletes and local organizers were in attendance as at MTN Arena, Lugogo, defending champions City Oilers, Betway Power, KCCA Leopards and Uganda Christian University (UCU) Lady Canons all picked up wins.
Kampala Capital City Authority(KCCA) Leopards opened the tournament with 57-45 win over Rwanda’s APR, while UCU Lady canons stopped Somalia’s Horseed 108-42.
In the men’s category, defending champions City Oilers stopped Tanzania Savio 93-46 in what was a major game of the day. Betway Power meanwhile defeated another Tanzanian side, ABC 87-55.
In other games, Kenya’s Equity Hawks stopped Tanzania’s Don Bosco70-48 while Kenya Ports Authority stopped stopped Somalia’s Gonder City 108-35. Rwanda’s Patriots were a class apart against Somalia’s Hawasa City who they beat 110-43.
The winners of the zone five will qualify for the African Championship in Morocco next year.
