National team set to rebound in style

By Gloria Kyomugisha

Inter-Cities Basketball Championships
April 29 - May 5 (Lugogo)

The national basketball team is aiming at rebounding from their abysmal Zone 5 performance two months ago by clinching the top slot at the Inter-Cities championships due in Kampala this month.

Uganda plays host to more than 10 cities when the annual Inter-Cities basketball event takes centre stage from April 29 to May 5 at the Lugogo Indoor stadium.

The men's basketball team put up a forgettable performance when they travelled to Dar es Salaam for the Zone 5 Nations championships in January. Uganda only managed victories over Tanzania en Burundi to finish fifth and out of the medal bracket.

The team that is expected to regroup for preparations this week under coach Mandy Juruni, has vowed to erase the Dar es Salaam tragic memories en get Uganda onto the Zone 5 podium.

The women's national team that picked up bronze in Dar returns to represent Kampala city and improve on their third place finishing.

Other cities expected at the weeklong Inter-Cities event include Entebbe, Jinja, Gulu(from Uganda), Nairobi, Bujumbura, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Mogadishu, Cairo, Kisumu, Mombasa among others and the winner qualifies for the only slot at the FIBA Afrique cities championships.

The 2013 edition will go into local history as the fourth time Uganda is hosting the zonal event.