AfroBasket 2009 was the 25th FIBA Africa Championship, played under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, the basketball sport governing body, and the African zone thereof. At stake were the three berths allocated to Africa in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The tournament was hosted by Libya after Nigeria, the original host, withdrew from hosting after not conforming to FIBA Africa guidelines.
Angola won its sixth consecutive African championship and tenth overall by beating Côte d'Ivoire 82-72 in the championship game. Tunisia won the bronze medal game over Cameroon to earn its first-ever FIBA World Championship berth. Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, and Tunisia move on to represent Africa at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey. Angola's Joaquim Gomes claimed the tournament's Most Valuable Player award for the second consecutive Afrobasket tournament.
Tournament Overview Widely considered among the most coveted sporting competitions in Africa, AfroBasket 2009 was hosted by Libya from August 5 to August 15, 2009.AfroBasket. Libya: The organization contract will be signed today in Tripoli . February 4, 2009AfroBasket to be Held August 5–15. . February 2, 2009 Games were played in Tripoli and Benghazi, with four groups being equally divided between the country’s two largest cities.
It is estimated that over 70 media channels covered the engagements, with the top three positioned squads automatically qualifying to represent the continent for the 2010 World Championship, to be held from August 28 to September 12, in Turkey. This historic event also coincides with ongoing celebratory activities marking the 40th anniversary of Libya's 1 September Revolution (Great Al-Fatih Revolution) which brought Muammar Gaddafi to power, and the tenth anniversary of the Sirte Declaration establishing the African Union (AU) on September 9, 1999.Kadhafi receives African Basketball Association president . May 9, 2008African Championship (25) of Basketball, Libyaonline.com
Host Selection Process Libya's selection as the host country was decided by the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) Executive Committee, approved by the Central Board of FIBA Africa, and officially announced in Tripoli on February 7, 2009. The decision favoring Libya to organize the 25th edition, followed the withdrawal of Nigeria who failed to conform to FIBA Africa guidelines. Signing of the official contract was conducted at a ceremony at Tripoli’s Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel on February 4, 2009, in the presence of Libya’s National Olympic Committee president Mohammad Al-Amariy, Dr. Muhammad Gaddafi, and president of the Libyan Arab Basketball Federation (LBF), Omar El Barshushi.
Before reaching the contract signing stage, and after Nigeria’s withdrawal, an organizing committee was formed by FIBA to investigate the facilities Libya had to offer regarding basketball courts and the possibility of refurbishing sites. At the 4th Session of FIBA-Africa Central Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt on January 25, 2009, the Libyan organizing committee presented plans and the preparation undertaken in order to successfully host the championships. The Central Board members who also made their recommendations approved the LBF presentation, which has been an FIBA Africa affiliate since 1961, and were described as excellent. The president of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) invited FIBA Africa’s officials in Tripoli to view first hand Libya’s preparations. To this end, before signing the contract between FIBA Africa and LBF, the Secretary General of FIBA Africa, Dr. Alphonse Bilé, the Assistant Secretary General, Adel Tooma and the President of the Commission for Competitions, Raouf Menjour, checked thoroughly the facilities and basketball courts that will serve the event and gave their approval.Libya to Host 2009 FIBA Africa Championship, The Tripoli Post. February 7, 2009
Venues Two Libyan cities, Benghazi and Tripoli hosted games in the tournament. Benghazi hosted games in Groups A, B, and E. Tripoli hosted games in Groups C, D, and F, in addition to the knockout round games.
Games in Tripoli were held in the African Union Arena, a modern, 7,000 seat arena built in the capital city in 2006.World Stadiums: Libya Games in Benghazi were held in the Suliman Ad-Dharrath Arena, part of the Medina al-Riyadhia (Sports City), the city's largest sporting centre. The 10,000 seat arena was built in 1967 and is therefore quite outdated. However, the stadia has undergone maintenance work in recent years.
Benghazi Tripoli Suliman Ad-Dharrath Arena African Union Arena Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 7,000
Qualification
Participants were sixteen national basketball teams among the 53 FIBA Africa members. These teams included the host nation, the top three sides at the FIBA Africa Championship 2007 in Angola, one wild card, and the top eleven sides at the 2009 Zone preliminary basketball competitions.Julius Mbaraga, Africa: Libya to Host Afro-Basket Tourney. February 4, 2009 None of the countries in Qualification Zone 7 registered for the qualifying tournament, so a second wild card was added. 14 of the 16 teams that competed for the 2007 Championship returned, with host Libya and Congo replacing Liberia and DR Congo. The following national teams competed: Number Team Qualified as Finals Appearance Last Appearance 1 Host 4th 1978 2 1st place FIBA Africa Championship 2007 16th 2007 3 2nd place FIBA Africa Championship 2007 5th 2007 4 3rd place FIBA Africa Championship 2007 4th 2007 5 Zone 1 Winner 18th 2007 6 Zone 1 Runner-Up 16th 2007 7 Zone 2 Winner 15th 2007 8 Zone 3 Winner 14th 2007 9 Zone 3 Runner-Up 19th 2007 10 Zone 4 Winner 15th 2007 11 Zone 4 Runner-Up 5th 1985 12 Zone 5 Winner 19th 2007 13 Zone 5 Runner-Up 2nd 2007 14 Zone 6 Winner 10th 2007 15 Wild Card 24th 2007 16 Wild Card 7th 2007
Format A revised format will debut in the 2009 championship: The teams will be divided into four groups (Groups A-D) for the preliminary round. Round robin for the preliminary round; the top three teams from each group advance to the next round. The top three teams from Groups A and B qualify to Eighth Final round Group E; the top three teams from Groups C and D qualify to Eighth Final Group F. The final scores of all games played in the preliminary round are valid for the eighth final round, including games against teams that did not advance beyond the preliminary round. The top four teams from each of the Eighth final groups advance to the sudden-death quarterfinals. The quarterfinal match-ups will be: QF1: 1E vs. 4F QF2: 2F vs. 3E QF3: 2E vs. 3F QF4: 1F vs. 4E The winners in the quarterfinals advance to the semifinals. The match-ups are: SF1: QFW1 vs. QFW2 SF2: QFW3 vs. QFW4 Winners secure an automatic berth to the 2010 World Championship. The semifinal teams will play in the sudden-death finals. The match-ups for the finals are: Bronze medal game: SFL1 vs. SFL2 Winner secures an automatic berth to the 2010 World Championship. Gold medal game: SFW1 vs. SFW2 Top 3 teams will automatically qualify to the 2010 FIBA World Championship which is held in Turkey.
Squads
Each of the sixteen teams competing was eligible to field a squad of twelve players for the tournament. Only Cape Verde and host Libya did not take advantage of this limit, as both teams sent an 11-man squad to the competition.Cape Verde national team profile at FIBA.comLibya national team profile at FIBA.com
Results Preliminary round
The draw was held on June 26, 2009, in Libya.
Qualified for the quarterfinals Eliminated in Preliminary round All times are in local time UTC+2
Group A Group A went according to form, as African powerhouse Nigeria was rarely challenged in the group en route to going undefeated. Côte d'Ivoire grabbed the second eighth final spot out of Group A by winning its last two group games after losing its tournament opener to the Nigerians. Host Libya, making its first tournament appearance since 1978, won its tournament opener over South Africa. This was enough to qualify for the eighth final round as last place South Africa lost its last two games by a combined 85 points.
TeamPldWLPFPAPDPts 3 3 0 287 214 +73 6 3 2 1 251 214 +37 5 3 1 2 233 242 -9 4 3 0 3 178 279 -101 3
Group B Five-time defending champion Angola surprisingly struggled in its first two games, slipping by Mali by 5 after ending the game on an 8–3 run, and beating Egypt after trailing at the half. Angola again found themselves tied at the half against Mozambique before finally hitting their stride in outscoring their opponents 60–17 in the second half. Mali took control in the second half against Egypt to finish second in the group; both teams advanced by virtue of their victories over last place Mozambique.
TeamPldWLPFPAPDPts 3 3 0 251 193 +58 6 3 2 1 208 180 +28 5 3 1 2 188 208 -20 4 3 0 3 166 232 -66 3
Group C 2005 silver medalists Senegal and 2007 silver medalists Cameroon both cruised to victories in their first two games to qualify for the eighth final round. Senegal won a hard-fought two-point victory over Cameroon in the final group game to grab first place in the group. Central African Republic thrashed over-matched Congo 113–61, in what amounted to an elimination game between two 0–2 teams on the last match day, to grab the final eighth final spot out of Group C.
TeamPldWLPFPAPDPts 3 3 0 244 202 +42 6 3 2 1 214 192 +22 5 3 1 2 251 222 +29 4 3 0 3 185 278 -93 3
Group D Group D was the most tightly contested preliminary round group. These games resulted in the most surprising result of this stage of the tournament as defending bronze medalists Cape Verde were eliminated even after their opening victory over Tunisia in spite of the efforts of Jeff Xavier, who would finish as the tournament's leading scorer. Group D also saw one of the best games of the tournament, as Morocco's Mohamad Hachad single-handedly shocked Rwanda when he hit a three-pointer with 29 seconds left, then stole the ball and passed to Yunss Akinocho for a jumper to erase a four-point lead in an 85–84 victory. Tunisia and Morocco both advanced with victories on the final day of group play after no team had clinched a spot in the eighth final coming into the final games. Rwanda also advanced by virtue of its ten-point victory over Cape Verde. TeamPldWLPFPAPDPtsTie 3 2 1 224 207 +17 5 1-0 3 2 1 250 265 -15 5 0-1 3 1 2 218 226 -8 4 1-0 3 1 2 221 215 +6 4 0-1
Eighth Final round Group E Group E went according to form as defending champion Angola continued its undefeated run in the tournament by dismantling Libya and Côte d'Ivoire in its first two games. Nigeria followed suit, albeit in less than dominating fashion, by slipping by Egypt and Mali to set up a showdown in the final group play match with Angola. Nigeria hung with the defending champions in a hard-fought game that was close the whole way, but the Nigerians could not close the deficit below two in the fourth quarter en route to a 93–85 loss.
Mali coasted to two easy victories over Côte d'Ivoire and Libya to finish third in the group. Côte d'Ivoire pulled away from Egypt in the fourth quarter to grab the final quarterfinal spot of the group. Egypt lost all three games, including a humiliating 75–73 loss to Libya on Raed Elhamali's buzzer beater. This was the first time in 19 appearances at the FIBA Africa Championship that the Egyptians failed to qualify for the semifinals.
TeamPldWLPFPAPDPts 6 6 0 523 397 +126 12 6 5 1 533 454 +79 11 6 4 2 444 385 +61 10 6 3 3 450 437 +13 9 6 2 4 439 501 -62 8 6 1 5 402 450 -48 7
Group F Unlike Group E, Group F was filled with back-and-forth matches between all six teams. Day 1 of the group saw plenty of action. Rwanda, making only its second tournament appearance, stunned 24-time participant Senegal, which had been undefeated in group play. Tunisia followed that up with a one-point victory over Central African Republic on Amine Rzig's jumper with four seconds left.