CAIRO (Egypt) - After five days of battle in Cairo, it is down to this moment for hosts and Zone 5 defending champions Egypt and Uganda, the two 2023 Women's AfroBasket teams from the region, to decide who will secure the sole ticket to this year's Women's AfroBasket.
The two teams will meet in the final of the qualifiers, which concludes on Saturday 8 February at the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall.
Meanwhile, South Sudan, who finished third after a 2-2 draw in the group stage, will face Kenya, who they beat in the preliminary round, for the final podium spot.
They have already met, but who will get the ticket to Abidjan?
The two Zone 5 finalists met on Tuesday 4 February, with Amr Elmaraghy's side emerging victorious 65-62, and in the most important match between the two, the hosts will be looking to add to their triumph, while Nicholas Natuhereza's charges will be looking to make amends for the mistakes they made in their first meeting.
Jane Asinde and Paige Robinson starred for Uganda, as did Raneem Elgedawy and Nadine Mohamed for the home side, but it was the late heroics of Hala Elshaarawy that sealed victory for the North Africans.
"Egypt had a little more than us at the end and made the plays to close the game, which is something we need to look at," coach Natuhereza told FIBA.basketball after the loss.
For his part, coach Elmaraghy blamed their performance on costly turnovers in the second quarter, which allowed Uganda to outscore them 18-10 and turn a 14-point deficit into a seesaw in the second half. Egypt turned the ball over 24 times, one less than Uganda, who outscored the hosts 24-18.
"There were a lot of mistakes in the game that cannot be repeated against a team as experienced as Uganda. We have to stay in the game from the first whistle to the last," said Elmaraghy.
With the loss to Egypt the only dent in Uganda's run in the competition, and the hosts going into the final unbeaten, who will be the last team standing?
"We have been in this position before where we needed to win the last game to qualify and we came up short, including the last qualifiers in Kampala. We will try to get it right this time," continued Natuhereza.
"We are coming into the game on a day off after playing four games in a row, which will help us to be rested and ready. We will be looking at our game both offensively and defensively, correcting mistakes and trying to control their top players who have been on a roll this season and before. Hopefully we can do enough to get into the game and be successful," the play-caller added.
For her part, Jamila Nansikombi has called on the Uganda Gazelles to be aggressive, avoid complacency and make adjustments when things aren't going well. "We need to keep our heads up and focus on the little things and pay attention to the details just like in any other high level basketball game," she offered.
Meanwhile, Meral Abdelgawad, who averaged 10.3 points for Egypt, says they need to be ready for Uganda, who pushed them in the group stage, a sentiment echoed by assistant coach Aliaa Mahmoud.
"I think the final will be different from the other games. Both teams have studied each other and there is an expectation that there will be a change in strategy. We have to look at the areas where we did not execute well and correct them. We will be ready for them," the tactician concluded.
FIBA