Ojukwu yearning for better competition as KPA prepare for Zone Five championship

Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) women’s league champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) are set for a FIBA Africa Zone Five club championship title defense in Dar es Salaam between 26 September and 1 October.

 Head coach Antony Ojukwu says their preparation for the championship has suffered a huge blow following their current league fixtures as the tactician says he needs to face strong sides as part of the squad’s preparations for the championship.

This weekend, the holders are in Nairobi where they play Eagle Wings before breaking camp for a few days and regroup in Mombasa for official pre-championship training. 

“With all due respect to the side that we face in Nairobi before heading to camp, I feel that my team will encounter minimal resistance which is not what we need ahead of such a championship.

We had requested for the fixture to allow us play two matches during our trip to Nairobi but it was not effected. We have also tried to secure a friendly match with Equity Hawks but they have their own matches to deal with and it was not possible," offered Ojukwu. 

The side beat Hawks during last year's championship that had attracted six teams to lift the zone's title. This year's challenge will be tougher as more sides are expected to feature. 

"Since we cannot get the kind of competition we need as we prepare for this event, I am hoping that we will get approval to travel early to Dar es Salaam and secure a few friendly matches before the championship begins. We have requested the management to allow us travel on 20th September and we await their response," added Ojukwu. 

The tactician is likely to miss the services of youngsters Medina Okot and Barbra Achieng who are supposed to be with the national Under-23 3x3 team that will be doing duty at the global championship set for Romania around the same time.