Owuor gearing up for Afrobasket qualifiers despite Covid-19 disruption

Despite Covid-19 interrupting the global sports calendar, national men’s basketball team head coach Cliff Owuor is using his time outside the court to spy on their opponents ahead of the Afrobasket second qualifying round.

The Morans qualified for the second round of Afrobasket after winning round one of qualifiers held in Nairobi in January this year, beating South Sudan 74-68 at Nyayo Gymnasium to clinch the Zone Five’s sole ticket.

In the second round of qualifiers Morans will be meeting giants Senegal, Angola and Mozambique.

However, the team’s momentum has been slowed down since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, forcing Owuor to adopt alternative methods of preparing for the tournament.

“I’m in touch with the players constantly, talking about our games and also discussing our opponents based on the games we are watching. We always meet on Mondays for updates of about one or two hours,” he said.

With the second round of the qualifiers fast approaching, Owuor is leaving nothing to chance albeit the uncertainty surrounding the venues.

They will be played in two phases; the first one between November 27 to 29 while the second phase will be staged in February next year. However the venues of the two-phased qualifiers are yet to be announced.

The top three teams from the qualification journey will qualify for the Afrobasket Championship that will be held in Kigali, Rwanda in 2021.

Owuor’s charges have been advised to concentrate on individual training after sports activities were put on hold in March.