Luanda - The National Wheelchair Basketball Team qualified this Sunday, in Johannesburg, for the first African Para Games to be held from 2 to 13 September this year, in Ghana.
The result was obtained after the national team beat Zambia by 103-15, in the last round of the Zonal Qualifying Round, which is taking place in Johannesburg City, South Africa.
The national team, led by coach Moniz Marques, found it easy against a less capable opponent, winning the four periods of the game in 37-02, 61-06, 81-10 and 103-15.
Ntanda Afonso, with 22 points, Isaías Messo, with 18, Cláudio Marcolino, with 16 and Aurélio Sanguende, with 11 were the top scorers for Angola, while for the Zambians Beniston Chifufussa stood out, with 5 points.
Saturday, in the opening game, Angola lost to South Africa by 41-45, when in the third quarter it was recorded a 31points tie.
Isaias Messo, with 13 points and Ntanda Afonso, with 10 points were the only ones who reached double digits, while for the opponents Shane Wiliams scored 20 points.
Statements
The national coach Moniz Marques said that the first objective was achieved with the qualification to the African Para-Games scheduled for September, in Ghana, and with a completely renewed national team.
In more than 15 years, Angola lost for the first time to South Africa by less than five points of difference, 41-45, being this a demonstration that the work developed is correct.
To him, the challenge against South Africa, a country with a different level of organization, infrastructure, and competitiveness, served to draw lessons about what Angola can be in the short or medium term.
Despite the balanced result, Moniz Marques acknowledged having faced an opponent with younger players, under 23 years old, so he warned about not raising the expectations too high.
He went on to state that he had the feeling that the squad are in a good phase of construction, aiming to reach the level of African great teams, such as Morocco, Algeria, South Africa, Egypt and Tunisia.
The National Team have only four veteran players, and eight debutants.
The Angolan squad comprise the players António Martins, Adilson João, Ntanda Afonso, João Marcolino, Isaías Messo, Cláudio Marcolino, Afonso Garcia, Walter Nascimento, Daniel Quintas-Cap, Lussakalalu Malungo, Manuel Jamba and Aurélio Sanguende.
