Morans ripe for world stage, says ace Bosire

Mkalla Mwambodze   in Nairobi

Basketball star Victor Bosire, the league’s most valuable player opines that Morans have the potential to perform well at the international stage.

Once a football player who featured with the likes of Victor Ali Abondo in Kisumu, point-guard Victor Bosire has won four Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) League titles in a row and named the best player in his last league conquest.

He won three league titles in a row with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and added a fourth last season with Ulinzi Warriors where he picked up the (MVP) crown, one which he also came close to winning in 2018.

Bosire who is part of the national team Morans feels Kenya will upset opponents once the AfroBasket qualifiers set for November 2020 begin.

“We as Morans are looking at sustainability, not one or two year success. Whatever happened last year I think just built a platform of the ability of Kenyan basketball for a long time to come. When we go out there Kenya has much more talent than those teams that we play against.

“But we have always been affected by some things like preparations and other factors. So by the federation coming in as well as the current coach Cliff Owuor who is very passionate about basketball – if he gets us ready way before the tournament – we’ll do well. No warrior goes to war expecting to lose,” said Bosire.

The former Nyang’ori High School and Kisumu Day star believes Kenya has a good chance to play in the World Cup but only if they work extra hard, convinced that with proper support, Morans have what it takes to reach the semi finals of next year’s Fiba AfroBasket and book themselves a ticket to the global event slated for 2023.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup will take place in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines marking the first time in the competitions history that it will be staged in more than one country.

Bosire a Masters degree holder in Business Administration & Strategic Management is very optimistic they can make it to Indonesia.

“We expect to qualify for the world championships because we have done it before in that African stage when we finished second in Afrobasket and most of the teams that were there are the same teams we are going to meet this time around and that’s why we believe we can do it again.

“But let us take a step at a time, let us start with the qualifiers because we are pooled against two of the best teams in Africa, Senegal and Angola but the good thing is that only one team is being eliminated,” added the point-guard.

But for Kenya to make it to the continental championships slated for Kigali, Rwanda next year, they must shake off African giants Angola, Senegal and Mozambique in a four-team 2021 FIBA AfroBasket Group B qualifiers set for November as they battle for a return to the continental championship after 27 years in the cold.

They qualified for the final round of qualifiers after beating Eritrea, Somalia, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan in Zone Five qualifiers staged in Nairobi.

Morans want to emulate the late Tom Munyama, who guided the national women’s team to a silver medal in Africa in 1992, a feat that also gave them a ticket to the 1994 World Cup in Australia.