Ulinzi Warriors land familiar foes in BAL qualifiers

Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men's league champions Ulinzi Warriors who are representing the country in the 2022 Basketball Africa League (BAL) begin their final journey to qualifying for the continental extravaganza in its second edition. 

Warriors who qualified for the elite 16 which is the final round of qualification in second place behind Burundi's New Star have landed Cobra Sport of South Sudan, Uganda's City Oilers and Mozambique's Ferroviario Beira. 

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The East division's action has been scheduled for 2 to 7 December in Johannesburg, South Africa and as the military side's preparations continue, coach William Balozi remains confident that he has a good squad that can qualify. 

"We have seen all these teams in action and even played against Cobra Sport. City Oilers played their first round matches in Dar es Salaam just like we did and we know what to expect from them. It is a fair group and if we play as well as we have prepared we will go through. That said, I am looking to add to the team's depth by bringing in two or three more players to give us an edge over our opposition," said coach Balozi. 

The tactician is making his plans without the team's forward John Washika who picked an injury in training while away in Dar es Salaam for the first round qualifiers and remains sidelined. 

Team captain Eric Mutoro maintains that their run in the first round of qualification where they struggled to beat Cobra Sport to qualify after losing to New Star in the opening match is nothing to worry about as they head to Johannesburg. 

"We have been in training since qualifying and unlike our first round where we did not train as a unit while in residential camp, the squad has been in preparations together and we are raring to go. We will stick to our game regardless of the team we are facing as we look to qualify," said Mutoro.