Who will grab the last three Elite 16 tickets in the Joburg Qualifiers?
The last round of the Road to BAL is looming as eight teams are set to battle for the three tickets in the Division East Elite 16 contest in Johannesburg, South Africa from November 21-26.
JOHANNESBURG (South Africa) - The last round of the Road to BAL is looming as eight teams are set to battle for the three tickets in the Division East Elite 16 contest in Johannesburg, South Africa from November 21-26.
This is the final destination of the qualifiers that started in October with the first round of matches spread in five venues, namely Antananarivo (Madagascar), Yaounde (Cameroon), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) and Gaborone (Botswana).
The first three tickets for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Season 4 were grabbed in Yaounde earlier this month during the penultimate West Division Elite 16 where Sporting Club Bangui (Central Africa Republic) and Faith Union Sport (FUS) of Morocco playing in Group B slugged it out in the Finals with the former posting a close 93-90 victory.
The other qualifying slot was grabbed by first-timer Al Ahly Benghazi of Libya who sailed through from Group A after shutting out Forces Armees et Police (FUS) of Cameroon 93-87 in the decisive Third-Place Game.
The three clubs upstaged a seven-team field that missed Stade Malien. The Malians pulled out only few days to the show.
Johannesburg has hosted the last three editions of the Elite 16 in 2021 and 2022
The Elite 16 focus has now turned to Johannesburg where eight other teams will trade blows in the five-day showpiece.
Pazi BC (Tanzania) and Dynamo (Burundi), who earned a wild card made it from Group C in Dar Es Salaam. They were joined by Club Omnispot Police Nationale (COSPN) of Madagascar and eventually JCB (Zimbabwe) who won the right from Group D and E respectively.
GROUP A
Pazi has become the first Tanzanian outfit to reach the Elite 16 of the Road to BAL
The Tanzania champions Pazi who dimmed Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 69-67 in a heart throbbing finals to sail through to the next round for the first time, were drawn i Group A where they will have to square off against Dynamo one more time.
They will have their hands full as they come face to face with a young and bubbling NBA Academy Africa side as well as Cape Town Tigers who are no newcomers in the continent's premier club competition.
GROUP B
Zimbabwe's JBC are set to make their maiden appearance in the coveted Division East Elite 16
Regulars Ferroviaro da Bera (Mozambique) and City Oilers (Uganda) remain the favourites to top this group. They will be a real stumbling block in the path of the Indian Ocean Island powerhouse COSPN and JBC of Zimbabwe in the group.
Once the three teams from the East are known, they will join the talented-laden opponents from the West and the six that includes reigning champions Al Ahly Sporting Club (Egypt) and last year's finalist AS Douanes (Senegal).
There is also Petro de Luanda (Angola), Armee Patriotique Rwandese (APR) of Rwanda and former BAL winners, US Monastir (Tunisia). A yet t be determined champion of the Nigerian League which complete the field.
So, after a fierce five-day competition in Johannesburg comes to a close, who will secure the last three available tickets for the upcoming BAL festival , which will be hosted, for the first time, across four African cities, namely, Johannesburg, Cairo, Dakar and Kigali?
Stay tuned for the latest news on the Elite 16.
FIBA