Hats off to Mali

SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - Nine days of intense competition and the 2015 FIBA Africa U16 Women's Championship came to an end on Sunday in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and it was business as usual for Mali, who clinched their fourth consecutive continental championship.

Mali finished unbeaten in seven games, trouncing their opponents by an average of 40.7 points per game, although they needed to play their best to overcome a resilient Nigeria team 57-46 in the final.

As a result of reaching the Final, both Mali and Nigeria qualified for next year's FIBA U17 Women's World Championship.

A couple of weeks ago, I suggested that this could have been one of the most competitive Africa U16 tournaments ever because of the expected 11 teams, which should have been the biggest participation ever. I also suggested that Mali was the team to beat.

Although South Africa and Zimbabwe pulled out, it turned out the nine-team event was in fact competitive, but Mali proved too much for their opponents.

When I look at Mali's record, I often catch myself thinking, "either they have an advanced youth basketball programme for the continental standards, or the rest of the countries are neglecting their talented players with poor preparations."

Meanwhile, the country's success is just the result of hard work, if I am not mistaken.

I feel it is time to take our hats off to Mali and their head coach Oumarou Sidiya Maiga, who has claimed his fourth consecutive U16 title. The man has been associated with every Mali success at youth level. 

The tournament was so competitive that Egypt (2-4), the second highest ranked team on the continent, plummeted to a seventh-place finish after standing on the second step of the podium in the two previous editions of the tournament. For the Pharaohs it is time to regroup and find answers to their four defeats.

As for Nigeria - who returned to Africa's youth competition after years of absence - without a doubt they were the biggest surprise at the tournament in Antananarivo, despite competing with a nine-player roster due to age irregularities involving three of their players.

The Nigerians showed a lot of grit, reaching the Final with a 5-0 record, but were unable to oppose Mali's dominance.

The next few months will tell us more about the future of this Nigerian team, who proved their competitiveness and talent throughout.

Moreover, in the Third-Place Game, Angola (4-3) made sure to avoid their second defeat to Mozambique, securing their second finish on the third step of the podium in the last three editions of the tournament thanks to a 52-48 triumph.

Hosts Madagascar (4-2), who made their debut in the tournament, won all their four games against North African opposition, but defeats to Nigeria on Day 2 followed to a loss against Angola in the Quarter-Finals spoiled the Malagasy expectations.

Both Rwanda (0-4) and Morocco (0-6) may have taken some valuable lessons for their respective future.

And, unsurprisingly Mali's Rokia Doumbia was named the MVP of the competition and headlined the All-Star Five alongside Regina Pequeno (Angola), Rita James (Nigeria), Chanaya Pinto (Mozambique) and Bella Murekatete (Rwanda).

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

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