Cape Verde aiming to reach new heights in women’s African Basketball Championship

Cape Verde aiming high at women’s AfroBasket

JOHANNESBURG, September 16 (ANA) – Though they are undeniably one of the minnows of the upcoming women’s African Basketball Championship (AfroBasket), Cape Verde are determined to keep breaking new ground on the world stage.

Cape Verde will be playing in the AfroBasket for the second time in a row at the tournament beginning in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Saturday. It’s the first time in their history that Cape Verde have qualified for two successive women’s AfroBasket tournaments.

It will be a tough outing for Cape Verde in Group A which also has the hosts Cameroon that will be looking to build on home advantage. Cameroon will be aiming to once again reach the final, as they did back in 2015 when they hosted the tournament. Kenya have also experienced a recent resurgence and will be a tricky foe for Cape Verde.

In 2005, Cape Verde reached the quarterfinals, and eventually finished seventh which remains their best placing at the continental competition.

Captain Jade Leitao is the go-to player for the Blue Sharks. In Yaounde, when the Blue Sharks lineup play at their fifth Women’s AfroBasket edition, she will equally be celebrating the same feat in magnificent style.

From making her debut at the 2005 edition at the age of 22, Leitao has been the core ingredient of Cape Verde’s women’s national team playing at all the past four editions and is set to lineup once again for her nation.

Cape Verde have never qualified for the Women’s Basketball World Cup and are yet to qualify for the Summer Olympics, and a strong performance at this year’s AfroBasket will go a long way in building their belief of reaching greater heights. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman