The stage is set for the final of the FIBA U16 African Championship 2019 as Egypt and Mali will be renewing a rivalry which dated back to the inaugural edition in 2009 with Mali winning three of their five meetings across three editions of the competition.
Mali saw off Nigeria 54-45 in a keenly contested first Semi-final while Egypt fought off a third quarter overtaken by Guinea to secure a 71-67 win and has their versatile center Abdullah Ahmed popularly known as ‘Bido’ to thank for the feat.
Both sides have however earn the two available spots to the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2020.
Egypt boast of better credential owing to their offensive and defensive prowess but must be on top of their game against a mobile Mali side who are desirous of defending the title won two years ago.
Key Players:
Abdullah Ahmed (EGY) – 14.2PPG, 13RPG
Youssouf Singare (MLI) – 7PPG, 10.7RPG.
Though both players contributed greatly to their teams going this far and the only teams to remain unbeaten after six games, but judging by their contribution in the semis the Egyptian center has an edge where he landed a double double figure of 15 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks and an efficiency rating of 20 to the Malian who scored 6 points, 12 rebound, 5 blocks and got 10 in efficiency.