Egypt, coached by Canadian Roy Rana, on Friday, clinched the third of five tickets for African teams for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup after beating reigning African champions Tunisia 71-67 in Alexandria.
The win marks Egypt’s return to the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time since 2014.
The Egyptian national team secured qualification for the World Cup, two days after the end of the qualifiers, accompanied by the South Sudanese national team, which defeated Senegal early on Friday so that the two teams qualified together for the 2023 World Cup.
Egypt raised its tally to 18 points, behind South Sudan by one point, and the two teams achieved qualification, regardless of the results of the remaining two rounds.
Ehab Amin sparked Egypt’s offense with a game-high of 23 points, Anas Osama contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds while Tunisia captain Makram Ben Romdhane finished with a team-high 22 points. Omar Abada and Michael contributed 19 points apiece in the losing cause.
The first quarter ended in a tie 17-17 before the Egyptian team started to lead in the second quarter, ending the first half in front with 35 to 31. In the third quarter, the Pharaohs, who finished 55-45, continued to outperform the match, before the match ended with Egypt winning 71/67 to qualify the national team for the World Cup amid great happiness.
Egypt will face Cameroon on Saturday at the same court.
“When we first started, few people believed in us, my players always believed, and here we are,” said Egypt head coach Roy Rana.
Rana, born in England and raised in Toronto, has a long and successful history coaching Canada’s youth teams, with the highlight coming at the U19 World Cup. A team led by current New York Knicks guard R.J. Barrett shocked the powerhouse United States in the semifinal before defeating Italy for the championship.
Rana also coached the under-18 team to two silver medals and one bronze at the U18 world championships and a bronze at the U17 World Cup.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup will be held from August 25 to September 10, in Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines.
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