Mali and Egypt, their intense rivalry in youth basketball

Mali and Egypt resume Under-16 basketball rivalry

JOHANNESBURG, June 3 (ANA) – In the last 12 years since the Under-16 African Basketball Championship began, Mali and Egypt have displayed an unparalleled rivalry.

The two nations have met in four finals of the last six editions of the tournament.

Though Egypt have won four titles against Mali’s one, the Malians are on their way to level up the game.

The tournament has come a long way since 2009, when Egypt beat Mali in the final game (84-82) to clinch their first-ever Under16 African Championship in Maputo, Mozambique, thus starting their reign on the continent.

Six years later Egypt and Mali faced off again, this time in the Malian capital Bamako. The Egyptians rose to their third victory in five editions, and this time, the pill was even more difficult to swallow for Mali, as they fell short by one point (64-63).

Victory was finally on Mali’s side in 2017, thanks to an incredible performance from Siriman Kanoute, who was watching from the stands two years earlier.

“I remember that day,” Kanoute told FIBA.basketball during the 2017 edition of the tournament.

“I was only too young to play,” he said.

Four years ago, in front of a Mauritian crowd Mali delivered an impressive display, clinching the title with a 76-65 victory.

But it seems that the rivalry has reached new heights when, in 2019, Egypt claimed yet another victory – their third – over Mali in the final, this time in Praia, Cape Verde, which gave Egypt a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over the West African nation.

This state of affairs between Egypt and Mali Under-16 teams is all about basketball and who has the best training and development program.

At some point in time, Mali’s women’s squad won every possible trophy on offer. Egypt found a way to respond by dominating the smaller categories in the men’s side.

“It is more a question of who had the best team and program and who would put it best at work,” says Mamoutou Kane, the coach who led Mali to their first-ever boys’ continental title in 2017.

He recalls pressure ahead of the 2017 final game above all. “We were in the finals, and we wanted more than anything to represent our country to the best of our capacity. I guess this is what goes on in every player and every coach in this kind of game.”

Both countries rely on impressive training and development programs to reach the top.

However, Ehab Amin, who was crowned the 2011 Under-16 African Championship in 2011, noted that:  “There is no rivalry as such. I’d call it respect. Both countries are really good at developing players. So, seeing these two countries meet in the finals or in the semi-finals is only logical.”

The next Under-16 African Championship, which will take place from August 6 to 15 in Bamako, could be yet another showdown by any one of those two countries. Except, maybe, if another contender slips in between and adds a twist to the tournament. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman