The Mozambican senior women's basketball team will face their Angolan counterparts twice, on Monday and Tuesday of next week, in Luanda, the Angolan capital, in the only qualifying round of Zone VI for access to Afrobasket-2025, the final phase of which will take place in Côte d'Ivoire from July 25 to August 3..

Finalists in the 2013 Afrobasket, which took place in Maputo and was won by Angola (64-61), the two Portuguese-speaking countries are the only ones from Zone VI who have guaranteed their presence in Luanda to fight for the southern region's only place in the competition.

As a result, the race was originally scheduled to take place from February 2 to 10, but will now take place over just two days, on Monday and Tuesday, interestingly enough national holidays in Mozambique and Angola where, respectively, Heroes' Day and the Day of the Beginning of the Armed Struggle for National Liberation are celebrated.

According to a Challenge newspaperWith only two teams taking part, the knockout round will be played over two legs and decided by the difference between points scored and conceded rule.

So winning the first game doesn't mean you've qualified. However, whoever wins the first game, in order to qualify for Afrobasket, must come back for the second or, if they lose, it must be by a smaller point difference than the one they won. For the team that loses the first game, a win in the second, by a greater point difference, guarantees qualification.

Yesterday, the national basketball coach, Nilton Manheira, announced the list of the 12 players who will represent Mozambique in the first qualifying window for Afrobasket-2025.

The highlight of the squad is the return of Anabela Cossa, who has been absent from the National Team's last few competitions, including Afrobasket-2023 in Kigali, Rwanda, and the qualifying window for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico. Another novelty is the debut of young center Bruna Argélio, from Ferroviário de Maputo, who has won the confidence of the coaching team led by Nilton Manheira and Carlos Dezanove.

The squad is dominated by Ferroviário de Maputo, who contribute eight players, a reflection of their recent victory as African club champions. Costa do Sol, the national runners-up, complete the list with four players.

The Mozambican delegation will travel to Luanda on Sunday, February 2, the day before the competition begins.

(Photo DR)