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Uganda Gazelles to battle Gabon in 2015 AfroBasket opener

Xinhua, September 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Uganda's women's basketball team is set to face off with Gabon in the opening match of the 2015 AfroBasket in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Head coach Timothy Odeke told Xinhua on Tuesday that his team is eager to open the Group A encounter with a win.

The event which will bring together 12 nations is scheduled for Sept. 24 - Oct. 3.

The teams will compete for the continental crown and also to clinch the only direct qualifying berth on offer for African teams for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Odeke said the team's two US-based players Sharon Karungi and Lisa Karungi are expected to travel straight to Cameroon and arrive before the tournament starts on Thursday.

Neither Gabon nor Uganda has featured in the tournament in more than a decade. This year's showdown marks their return to Federation of International Basketball Association Africa's top women's tournament.

Uganda is grouped in Pool A alongside Gabon, Cameroon, Mozambique, South Africa and favorites Mali who won the All Africa Games title in Congo Brazzaville last week.

Group B has Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal. Endi