Basketball - Seychelles men’s team qualify for All-Africa Games |27 November 2014

Seychelles’ men’s basketball team have punched their tickets for next year’s All-Africa Games but will have to play in the group one qualifiers for the AfroBasket 2015.

The Seychelles men’s team did not have to break a sweat to qualify for next year’s All-Africa Games scheduled for September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Congo as Madagascar withdrew their involvement in the qualifiers slated for early next year.

The country’s pre-selection who are actually on a 15-day training camp in Normandie, France, were to play Madagascar away on January 3 and host the Malagasies on January 10 in the two-legged qualifiers.

The Seychelles basketball Federation (SBF) was informed of this decision through a letter received from the Fédération international de Basket-ball Association (Fiba) Africa.

The letter writes that because of Madagascar’s withdrawal, the Seychelles men’s basketball team will automatically qualify for the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo, but unfortunately the team cannot qualify for the AfroBasket without playing any competition.

As a result, Seychelles have been integrated in group one comprising Zimbabwe, Angola, South Africa and Zambia. The qualifying tournament will be played in 2015 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and Seychelles will surely be vying to compete for the first time in Fiba Africa's flagship tournament in Tunisia in 2015.

Meanwhile, the men’s pre-selection won their first friendly match against French second division side Rouen on a 77-60 score.

The 18-man pre-selection are made up of 15 locally-based players :Timmy Adam, Faizel Naiken, Liston Reginald, Dave Roseline (Baya), Amadou Sylla (Premium Cobras), Ron Estico, Sergio Ah-Kong, Cyril Agrippine, Steven André (Mont Fleuri Dawgz), Arnaud Arissol, Henry Monthy (Drifters), Nigel Sinon, Keven Morel (MBU Rockers), Giovanni Laval (Beau Vallon Heat) and Bernard Bristol (PLS Hawks). They have been be joined by three professionals – France-based Abdel Sylla, who plays for Pro A side L'Elan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez; Andrew Rath, who plays for Italian Serie C side Sports club Cestistica Audace Pescia; and Aleski Malvina who plays in Russia.

The team’s trip is sponsored by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports and the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) under the International Olympic Committee’s team support grant in preparation for Olympic Games qualifications.

Coaches Tony Juliette and Nigel Ah-Kong, physiotherapist Maggie Lespoir and team manager Francis Roucou are also with the team in Normandie.

G. G.