Namsifu flies flag high

UGANDA: A MEMBER of the national under-18 girls’ basketball team, Namsifu Isaac, grabbed the spotlight and made Tanzania proud at the recently concluded Afrobasket Zone V U18 qualifiers.

Namsifu was honoured as the Best Player for three-pointers at the week-long tournament held at the NCS Lugogo Arena in Kampala, Uganda, on Friday.

The event featured five nations competing for spots in the FIBA U18 Women’s African Championship 2024 Finals, which will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August.

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Namsifu scored a total of nine three-pointers, contributing 27 points throughout the tournament, outshining top competitors from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and host country Uganda.

Despite her outstanding performance, Tanzania finished fourth in the competition.

Michael Kadebe, the presi￾dent of the Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF), praised Namsifu for her hard work and commended both the girls and boys’ teams for their resilience during the tournament.

Kadebe congratulated Namsifu, acknowledging the tough competition and emphasis￾ing her exceptional performance in the three-pointers category as a result of her dedication and the team’s support.

“I would like to congratulate Namsifu, we all know how the competition was, it was not an easy ride for the youths, the competition was fierce and one emerging as the winner in three pointers means that she has worked even harder with good support from the team,” he said.

He also noted the challenging nature of the competition due to strong opponents with height and power advantages.

“It is all going very tough, our opponents have improved, they have players who have height and power than us as such that gave them more of an advantage in the game and they have been dominating for a longer period despite our team’s strong fighting.”

Both the Tanzanian boys and girls’ teams competed against Kenyan opponents in the third-place playoff, with the boys losing 77-71 and the girls 70-63.

Kadebe mentioned plans to organise scouting, enhance training and hold youth training camps to strengthen the teams for future championship success.

“We also expect to have youth training camps from time to time including playing many trial matches to build a strong team that will be able to bring us titles in the future.”

In addition to Namsifu Isaac, the other members of the girls’ team are Elizabeth Singoi, Nsinyare Denis, Upendo Isaya, Nawassa Lazaro, Neema Bakari, Maria, Idezent, Sophia Donald, Herieth Zozim, Pendo Lashipai, Namnyaki Isaya and Asra Anuary.

The Tanzanian boys’ team includes Baraka Clement, Mohamed Ally, Khaleef Nassor, Stanley Mtunguja, Hasani Fadhili, James Adam, Jordan Ahmed, Stephon Kyara, Oswadiq Ally, Steven Juma, Yassin Mwarami, Ebenezer Elifuraha and Ariel Kuzula.