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Guinea will be taking part in the Women's Afrobasket, scheduled from July 28 to August 4 in Kigali (Rwanda). The Guinean team is in Group B alongside Cameroon and Mozambique. Silver medallists at the first edition in Conakry in 1966, Guinea have struggled ever since. With a last-place finish in Cameroon in 2021, the women's Syli basketball team are hoping to play spoilsport in Kigali.
Eliminated in the first round at the last edition of the Afrobasket in Cameroon in 2021 with a twelfth and last place finish, Guinea enters this 21st edition in a delicate position. Beaten by Côte d'Ivoire in the zonal qualifying tournament, the Syli dames have been relegated to Pool B alongside Cameroon and Mozambique. Two heavyweights of continental basketball. A situation that has the Syli coach worried. "Our group is a tough one. Mozambique even beat Senegal, the most successful nation on the continent. That proves the level of this team. As for Cameroon, they need no introduction. They won bronze at the last edition on home soil. It's still a great basketball nation," analyses Ousmane Tafsir Camara.
"We've got girls ready to spring a surprise".
Guinea will need to be at their very best if they are to play spoilsport."We're here, as we are every time, to create surprises. What's interesting this year is that we have girls who are ready to create surprises and show that Guinea is there," reassures the coach.
The team's top scorer in the qualifiers, Masseny Kaba, who has signed up with Angers in France's top division, remains the Syli's main weapon. Having played in Italy and taken part in the WNBA Summer League with the Chicago Sky, her experience could prove useful to the Guinean team. She is joined by Aicha Mara, who plays for AS Monaco in the French First Division. According to Ousmane Tafsir Camara, these are major reinforcements for the national team. "With Masseny, Aicha Mara and the other locals, they have potential, they're warriors and they're ready to fight. In terms of potential, it's interesting.
"I'd like to do the best women's Afrobasket ever".
At the head of the national team since 2017, the coach has high ambitions for this edition. "With this group, I'd like to do the best Women's Afrobasket with them," hopes Ousmane Tafsir Camara.
Twelfth and last two years ago in Cameroon, Guinea is the lowest-ranked of the teams taking part in this edition of the Women's Afrobasket. Ranked 99th in the world and 17th on the continent, Guinea sees this as a further source of motivation.
Far from being one of the best basketball nations on the continent, the Guinean Amazons want to play their cards close to their chest against supposedly stronger opponents. In their ninth appearance at the Afrobasket, Guinea will be looking to improve on their twelfth-place finish two years ago.
