The Basketball Africa League resumes on Saturday in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, as the last eight teams compete for the championship title.
The final teams vying for the trophy include AS Salé (Morocco), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), Forces Armeés et Police (FAP) of Cameroon, Petro de Luanda (Angola), Rwanda Energy Group (Rwanda), Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (SLAC) of Guinea, US Monastir (Tunisia) and Zamalek (Egypt).
In the first quarterfinal matchups at Kigali Arena, Petro de Luanda will face AS Salé followed by Rwanda Energy Group and FAP.
Teams competing in the playoffs earned their place after defeating challengers in the BAL’s Sahara and Nile conferences - played in Dakar, Senegal and Cairo, Egypt, respectively.
The top four teams from each conference will battle in a single-elimination tournament, culminating in finals that will crown one winner on May 28.
This marks the second BAL season after the inaugural regular season tipped off in May last year, backed by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Last year, Zamalek won the BAL’s first-ever championship after defeating US Monastir, 76-63.
VOA is a BAL partner, broadcasting games in several languages on radio stations across the African continent.
