Cameroon dreaming of first women’s AfroBasket title
Cameroon dreaming big at AfroBasket
JOHANNESBURG, March 16 (ANA) – The Cameroon women’s basketball team dreaming of conquering the continent for the first time is achievable according to their highly-experienced guard Ramses Lonlack.
Lonlack first played in the women’s AfroBasket (African Basketball Championship) in 2011, when her team were the youngest side in the competition with an average age of 22. That year they punched above their weight to reach the quarterfinals before falling to hosts Mali.
Two years later, they would go one step further before losing in the semi-finals to hosts Mozambique.
Their progression continued in 2015 when they reached the final, but lost out to a powerful Senegal outfit.
Throughout these campaigns, Lonlack, now aged 32, was a key figure for Cameroon.
Lonlack told Fiba.Basketball: “The evolution of Cameroon’s performances in the FIBA competition has always been in the top. Years are different and teams at AfroBasket are getting better and stronger.
“But the target remains the same, which is to win the gold medal at AfroBasket.”
In 2017, however, Cameroon were brought back down to earth as they lost seven out of nine matches at the AfroBasket to finish eighth place in the competition.
Lonlack would not play for Cameroon in the 2019 AfroBasket, and their result was even worse – they finished a lowly 10th.
“Cameroon is in the peak of rebuilding its team and often you have to bring in new players and new coaches, play games lose some then get better,” Lonlack said.
“I don’t feel that the recent performance had anything to do with the rotation of players nor coaches nor staff. When you’re rebuilding or revamping a team, there’s always going to be hard times like that and it takes some time to get better.”
Ahead of the 2021 edition, Lonlack is optimistic once more.
“I’ve played at four AfroBaskets in 2011,2013,2015 and 2017. It’s been a phenomenal journey and I’ll love to feature in the competition this year.
“On a personal level, the goal is to come out, play hard for my country as I’ve always done.
“In the past, we’ve worked hard and tried to lift the trophy and I feel the collective goal will be to finally get that Fiba Women’s AfroBasket title we’ve all always wanted.
“At the back of my mind there’s always been a [Fiba Women’s] World Cup qualification for Cameroon and that in itself will be something huge for Cameroonian basketball.” – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman
