FINAL PREVIEW: Can Guinea halt Egypt's 6th title ambition?
The eighth Final of the FIBA U16 African Championship gets underway on Sunday inside the Mohamed Mzali Arena in the city of Monastir as first time finalist Guinea take on five-time champions Egypt to deter
MONASTIR (Tunisia) - The eighth Final of the FIBA U16 African Championship gets underway on Sunday inside the Mohamed Mzali Arena in the city of Monastir as first time finalist Guinea take on five-time champions Egypt to determine the 2023 kings.
Guinea have been the surprise team of this year's Final Round.
In fact, many believe they have gone beyond their expectations but yet assume they can go all the way to win their first title in the championship.
Prior to the 2023 edition of the tournament, the best Guinea had placed was a fourth-place finish in 2019.
Coach Ibrahima Toure has a big task on his hands to guide his wards against Egypt.
He will need his impressive center and captain Araphan Diane to be at his best ready to take a hold of the ball on rebound and score when the opportunity comes.
In the Semi-Finals, Diane could only manage to score 12 points against Angola but had 18 rebounds.
The game against Egypt, who are known to be comfortable at this stage with such pressures, will also require Coach Toure to motivate Sekou Toure to do more alongside Karanmadi Gassama, Mohamed Lamine Toure as well as Mohamed Kourouma and Nour Gassim Toure.
Champions in the last two editions - 2019 and 2021 - Egypt believe they are the favorites to lift the trophy to make it a record sixth win.
Unlike Guinea that did not drop any game enroute to the Final, Egypt had stumbled against the Guinea side 83-78 in the Group Stage.
However, the Final is a different kettle of tea as Coach Amr Aboulkheir will have a different action plan to help his team retain the title.
Team captain Mohamed Wael, who scored a game-high 21 points in the Semi-Finals against Mali, will be the driving force for his side in their attempt to extend their dominance.
Aside Mohamed Wael, Egypt will also be looking the way of Annas Mohamed, Youssef Elhalawany, Ali Mohamed, Omar Elsisi and Omar Essam to get the job done.
While Guinea already have an inkling of what to expect of the Egyptians, Coach Aboulkheir will likely set a surprise game plan to to stop the opposition from being victors a second time over them.
It will be a game that will see the best of both coaches as the title fight promises to be all action and thrills.
FIBA