African women's basketball championship begins in Madagascar

The 21st African Women's Basketball Championship kicked off at the sport palace here Friday afternoon.

The 10-day competition featured 12 countries of Madagascar, Angola, Rwanda, Mozambique, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa, Nigeria, Mali, Mauritius, Tunisia and Senegal.

At the opening ceremony, the FIBA Africa Secretary General Alphonse Bile said that "this is the first time that the African women's basketball championship was held in an Indian Ocean country" .

He hoped that "the championship would be done in a spirit of fair play and the finalists would be worthy of their victory."

In his speech, the High Transitional Authority (HTA) president Andry Rajoelina said that Madagascan players would show to the world that they are interdependent and would win with courage and conviction.

In a match just after the ceremony, Madagascar beat Mauritius 86-42. Earlier, Angola beat Rwanda 64-56 and Senegal beat South Africa 75-34 while Mozambique won over Cameroon 55-48.


Source: Xinhua