South Sudan's Teny, Tac speak on first-ever national team's win

 

KAMPALA (Uganda) - South Sudan women's team may have won only one of their five games in the 2023 FIBA AfroBasket Women Zone 5 Qualifiers in Kampala, Uganda but that result brought so much joy to many across the continent.

The historic 54-40 victory over Rwanda was without a shadow of doubt a statement of better things to come from Africa's youngest nation.

And as if that was not enough, the team's mainstay Nyamuoch Pidier Teny was named to the All-Tournament team alongside Reem Moussa, Raneem Elgedawy (Egypt), Otto Jannon (Uganda) and Medina Okot (Kenya).

That win means a lot to the South Sudanese team who lost all their matches in their debut in 2021 in the Rwandan capital city of Kigali.

The forward, who averaged 11.5 points, 3. rebounds and 2.8 assists in four games - opened up to FIBA.basketball, noting that the victory in which they led in all but the first quarter as indescribable.

Tieny is one of the players whose performance in the six-day tournament lifted the team and gave the fans - both in the hall and who watched from elsewhere - some memories to remember.

She was a member of the 2021 team but did not play due to an injury and when she took to the court this time round, she went work straight away.

In that game against Rwanda she registered 18 points that included a 13-point outage in the third quarter while playing for 31:05 minutes.

After tasting defeat in all their matches two years ago, she noted, "this time round, the level of experience was different and it felt indescribable, especially since it was a historic win."

In the 74-53 loss to Uganda, the team collapsed 20-7 in the third quarter and the 1.80m (5ft 10in) star attributed the slide in that game mainly to over 30 turn overs the Ebony Charges committed in the tie.

She said the team's improvement after their first outing was due to  experience, "Definitely. There is always room for improvement and where there is improvement, there is room to excel." offered Tieny.

Going into the future, she believes the team will be stronger if they spend more time together, understand and trust each other's game more.

South Sudan have set a target and want to emulate the men's national side which has proved to be a force on the continental front within a short span since announcing their arrival on to the scene in 2020.

Tieny revealed she wears the national team colour with pride. "I am proud of myself. All I wanted was to show my love for the people in my home country and I still hope in the next generations to come."

Co-captain Acheill Marko Tac said in a  post-match interview that winning that game was something very special. The team wanted to make a statement after losing the opener 83-68 to the Egyptians. And they did just that.

"There is something very special.  We have all trained together for this moment. Going into the game we wanted to make a statement." she said.

"Coming out of Egypt game kind of defeated a little bit but we knew we had more games to come and are still in competition," Tac added.

"Our statement was to go out there and give our best, come together as a team and win this. I am super proud of my team, super excited,"

After the Kampala show, South Sudan focus now turns to the next tournament and they have high hopes they will gradually continue to climb the ladder one step at a time. 

FIBA