KENYA Ports Authority (KPA) have shifted training to Nairobi in readiness for the inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL) in Madagascar.
Team manager Christopher ‘Magic’ Ogutu yesterday confirmed the porters switched camp to the capital city ahead of the October 29 to November 3 show in Antananarivo.
“Yes, the team moved to Nairobi after their Premier League games last weekend and everything is currently on course,” he said. “We started our training on Monday and we have two sessions daily at Nyayo Stadium until we depart.”
Ogutu said he is making efforts to reach out to two national team players to join the squad ahead of the BAL show.
At the same time, he revealed that experienced coach Anthony Ojukwu has returned to the team’s technical bench and is already working with other tacticians. “We have brought back Ojukwu to the team. He will be working with other coaches on both the men and women’s technical benches.”
KPA are in Group ‘F’ alongside GNBC (Madagascar), Cobra Sport Club (Southern Sudan) and Beau Vallon Heat (Mauritius). Clubs from Seychelles and Comoros have yet to name their clubs for the competition.
The top two teams from the Madagascar festival will progress to the next phase of the tournament dubbed the elite 16. The porters are currently third in the league log and could be pushed to the fourth spot should Equity Bank win their last league tie against Strathmore University.
After the Madagascar qualifiers, the next phase of the tournament involving some of the continent’s bigwigs will tip-off next year in March. A total of 48 teams divided into eight groups from A to F have been lined up to start the race in this lucrative show.
Cairo (Egypt), Dakar (Senegal), Lagos ( Nigeria), Luanda (Angola), Rabat (Morocco) and either Monastir or Tunis (Tunisia) have been named as host cities.
