On the penultimate day of the 2017 IWBF Africa World Championships Qualifiers, the finals of the competition were decided.
South Africa and Algeria both cruised through to the final of the women’s competition with big wins over Zimbabwe and Kenya, respectively.
South Africa women were the first team through to the final, led by scorers Kelebogile Moeng with 13 points and Dineo Josephine Mosime with 12 points, as they defeated Zimbabwe, 60-4, with quarter scores of 18-2, 5-0, 13-2 and 24-0. Statistics
Algeria women ensured they will have the chance to defend their title and compete for the one spot at the World Championships, overshadowing the Kenyan women, 89-8. Captain Djamila Khemgani was impressive for the Algerians commanding the game with a triple-double of 17 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. Statistics
In the men’s competition, Morocco eased past Egypt with an 87-44 win to secure their place in the final. Boosted by their previous win over Egypt in the pool stages, Morocco stormed out to a 25-6 lead in the first quarter. Morocco’s defence continued to put Egypt under immense pressure throughout the game and forced a high number of turnovers, of which the Moroccan’s capitalised, winning the second and third quarter 25-10 and 26-10. With a 50-point lead going into the final quarter, the Moroccan coach rotated his bench and Egypt came through to win the quarter 18-11, but Morocco had done enough to seal their place in the final. Statistics
Morocco’s top scorers were Kamel Megrini and Zouhair Challat with 20 points apiece. For Egypt Ashraf Abouzied Amar again led their scorers with 12 points.
South Africa put up a spirited performance against reigning champions Algeria in the second men’s semi-final of the day. The first half was played at a frenetic pace and the physicality of the South African’s rattled the Algerians. South Africa struggled to convert scoring chances and make their defensive pressure count, but still kept the score within six points at half-time, 28-22.
Algeria regained their composure at half-time and came out firing at the start of the second half, going on a 10-0 run to give themselves some breathing space. As the pressure to try and stay in the match mounted on South Africa, some unforced errors crept into their game and Algeria managed to extend their lead and push the game out of reach of the South African’s, winning the second half 35-23 to clinch the victory, 63-45. Statistics
Top scorers for Algeria were Nabil Guedoun and Bilel Ayache with 15 points and 10 points respectively. There were 12 points apiece for Samuel Jacobus Van Niekerk and Allen Mtatase as they top-scored for South Africa.
The other game of the day saw Angola claim fifth spot ahead of Zimbabwe, as they came from behind to take the win 52-42. Statistics
Daniel Nyuke top-scored for Zimbabwe with 15 points, as Taona Ziki, who had been one of Zimbabwe’s other main points scorers throughout the tournament, struggled to find his shooting touch in today’s game shooting at just 15%. Angola’s scoring was led by Zegri Pedro with 12 points closely followed by Alberto Gaspar’s 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Click here for schedule and results from the 2017 IWBF Africa World Championships Qualifiers
