Angola beef up stocks for Olympic men’s basketball qualifiers

By ANA Sports On May 17, 2021

Angola call on new recruits for Olympic qualifiers

A basketball player dribbling the ball — File pic. South Africa- Cape Town – 04 -May- 2021 Vincent Ntunja from Gugulethu a former South African national basketball player a model and radio presenter. Picture credit: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency(ANA)

JOHANNESBURG, May 17 (ANA) – Fresh off the hiring of new coach Josep Claros, the Angolan men’s basketball team have called on a number of new recruits in their 31-man squad to do duty in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) next month in In Kuanas, Lithuania.

The qualifiers will be held from June 22 to July 4.

The newcomers are mostly US-based where they play college basketball, but they have also added Atlanta Hawks’ Bruno Fernando, the first Angolan to be drafted by an NBA team.

Fernando last featured for his country in the 2016 OQT in Belgrade.

Brothers Selton and Rifen Miguel, Eric Amandio, Valdir Manuel and Silvio De Sousa have represented Angola youth teams, and are often described as the future of Angolan basketball.

However, the 31-man preliminary squad includes some veterans, such as former Olympians Carlos Morais and Leonel Paulo.

According to the Angolan Basketball Federation (FAB), Spaniard Josep Claros is expected in Luanda this week to start a training camp on May 25. The Angolans will resume their training in Barcelona before flying to Kaunas.

The former African champions will take on Poland and Slovenia in Group B in an attempt to clinch one of the four tickets still available for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The winner in the Kaunas OQT will join the other winners of the tournaments in Croatia, Serbia, and Victoria to complete the 12-team Tokyo Olympics lineup, which already includes Spain, Argentina, France, USA, Australia, Iran, Nigeria and Japan.

The Angolans last played at the Olympics in Beijing 2008 after five consecutive appearances.

Angola squad: Eric Amandio, Wilson Ambrosio, Jose Antonio, Jilson Bango, Pedro Bastos, Glofate Buiamba, Fidel Cabitay, Malick Cisse, Jacques Conceicao, Silvio De Sousa, Teotonio Do, Gerson Domingos, Hermenegildo Dos Santos, Childe Dundao, Bruno Fernando, Aboubakar Gakou, Gerson Domingos, Valdelicio Joaquim, Alexandre Jungo, Joshua Kishila, Valdir Manuel, Rifen Miguel, Selton Miguel, Yanick Moreira, Carlos Morais, Edson Ndoniema, Jonatao Njungo, Leonel Paulo, Jone Pedro, Juscelino Ricardo, Melvyn da Silva. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman