TEAM PROFILE: Egypt will need to produce something special to win in Rwanda
In recent AfroBasket competitions, the furthest they have gone is the quarter-finals, a far cry from the silver and bronze medal teams of the 70s.
CAIRO (Egypt) - Egypt have reached the Women's AfroBasket Quarter-Finals of the last five editions of the tournament, but can they go further when the tournament gets underway later this month in Kigali?
Egypt will need to produce something special to win in Rwanda, but a quick look at their performances in the last five editions of the Women's AfroBasket shows visible progress and it suggests that sooner or later they could become a giant beater. Angola knows it better.
The former African champions are 1-2 against Egypt dating back to the 2015 tournament in Yaounde.
Runners-up of the 1977 African Championship, Egypt finished eighth in 2013 and 2015, seventh in 2017 and 2019 before returning home with a sixth place in 2021.
The biennial Championship will run from July 28 until August 5 in Kigali, Rwanda, and FIBA.basketball looks at what Egypt can do at Kigali's BK Arena.
Team: Egypt
Ranking: 39th in the world and 4th in Africa
Last participation in Women's AfroBasket: 2021
Best result at the Women's AfroBasket: As United Arab Republic - a political association between Egypt and Syria which lasted from 1958 to 1971 - Egypt won two African Championships in 1966 in Conakry and 1968 in Cairo. Egypt finished second at the 1977 tournament in Senegal.
How they qualified for the AfroBasket: Egypt qualified for the Final Round after triumphing in the FIBA Africa Zone 5 qualifiers in February. The North Africans beat South Sudan (83-68), lost to Uganda (86-85), beat Rwanda (102-56), beat Kenya (82-57), and in the final game, they sealed qualification with a 74-65 win over Uganda.
Africa: Egypt have participated in 12 AfroBasket competitions. They have not competed in global competition.
2023 Women's AfroBasket Group: Egypt are in Group D with Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Star players: Shooting guard Soraia Degheidy has grown from her first AfroBasket in 2015 and became a consistent performer for Egypt at the continental tournament.
The 27-year-old Dhegheidy's scoring has always been in double figures since the 2017 tournament. Her averages of 13.2 points per game, 2.3 rebounds per game, and 3.1 assists per game indicate her value to this Egyptian team.
Raneem Elgedawy was named MVP of the 2023 Women's AfroBasket Zone 5 Qualifiers
Nadine Mohamed was the leading scorer of the tournament two years ago. She averaged 16.8 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per game in the 2021 tournament. The North Africans will look to the guard/forward to spearhead their attack again in Rwanda.
The 25-year-old also showed she still packed a punch during qualifiers in February. Mohamed scored 13.6 points per game in Uganda.
New addition: Yara Hussein featured for Egypt in the youth ranks and was part of the team that played in the qualifiers in Uganda.
Hussein played all five games, averaging 2.2 points per game and crashed 4.8 rebounds per game.
Coach: Ehab Elalfy will lead the team at this tournament. The AfroBasket in Rwanda will be his third straight as head coach of Egypt.
Ehab Elalfy made his Women's AfroBasket debut in Dakar in 2019
During Elalfy's tenure as head coach, Egypt finished seventh in the 2019 African Championship. Two years later, Egypt improved a place finishing sixth.
He currently holds a 5-7 record at AfroBasket, dating back to 2019.
Outlook: Egypt have the talent in their ranks, and this is reflected in FIBA Rankings, where they currently sit at No.4 in Africa behind heavyweights Nigeria, Mali and Senegal, teams that Egypt haven't been able to beat in the last decade.
If Egypt are able to beat one of those three African giants, they can dream big.
FIBA