After a highly successful first round outing in Alexandria Egypt, the Uganda men's basketball team, the Silverbacks are on course to Afrobasket qualification.
The team won two of the three games played and are mathematically a game away from making it to next year's finals in Kigali, Rwanda.
The second window of qualifiers is slated for February 2021 and Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations is not taking any chances.
Preparations will start early to have the team in the right shape for the second window.
The team was on Thursday treated to a luncheon by the National Council of Sports in appreciation of the good performance.
Council General Secretary Dr. Patrick Bernard Ogwel revealed that government will ensure there's support for the team to prepare for February.
“As Government, We shall ensure that you continue with your good preparations," Ogwel told federation officials at a press conference Thursday morning.
"My appeal to players is that this is a very critical moment, you must have the discipline required, and FUBA, you should work in line with Government in terms of COVID-19 guidelines."
The federation received USH. 330M from NCS for the camp and the tournament that were both in Egypt.
FUBA President Nasser Sserunjogi revealed that as a federation they are happy with the results from the first round and ready to start early preparations for the reminder of the qualifiers.
The players will be given two weeks of rest before getting back to business with non-residential training set to start December 15th.
The team will also have a two-week residential camp with all players and coaches before the games.
Uganda lost 77-96 to Egypt in the opening game of the first round but recovered to defeat Morocco and Cape Verde 94-90 and 101-98 respectively.
Now on five points, Uganda are second in the table below giants Egypt who won all their games.
The top three teams after the second window will automatically qualify to FIBA Afrobasket.
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The writer is a Freelance Sports Reporter based in Kampala, Uganda. Follow him on Twitter (@Emanzi20), Facebook (Ndyamuhaki J. Emanzi) and Instagram (@emanzi20).