By Julius Senyimba
Uganda jumped the first hurdle in a Covid19 scare en route to Kigali, Rwanda. “We did our PCR test 48 hours before the game and all results for the entire delegation are negative,” local basketball head, Nasser Sserunjogi noted yesterday evening.
Luck and better preparations are to thank as Uganda national basketball team, the Silverbacks saw all their Covid19 results return negative ahead of a crucial qualifier game.
Having been on the receiving end during the second window of the Afrobasket qualifiers after five delegation members tested positive to Covid19 in Tunisia hence stopped from participating, a residential training camp was a must and now, it is all smiles.
The safety move from the organisers had many Ugandans worry about another chance to fight for the remaining slot for Group E, but as you read this, it is only hours away as the first game is on at 9:00pm Salle Omnisports El Bouazzaoui, Sale in Morocco.
Silverbacks were to play against Egypt early this week, but the North African side opted out having sealed their qualification as table leaders.
Egypt won all their games in the two face-offs handing Uganda a golden opportunity to qualify as all they have to do is to get a win from the two games at hand.
This was a blessing to Uganda as they reserved their energies for the must win game today.
Will they do like Egypt if they defeat Morocco and fly back minus playing Cape Verde? It is hard paper especially to a side that wants its players to gel ahead of the championship.
Uganda is looking for a record third time having been to Afrobasket championships in 2015 and 2017.
