NAIROBI, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will face a stern test to secure passage to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) after they were pooled alongside seven strong opponents for the second round matches set for November 26 to December 1 in Kigali, Rwanda.
KPA, which was one of the 12 teams that went through the preliminary rounds, have been joined by ASB Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Libya's Al Naser, Cobra Sports of South Sudan and Tanzania's JKT after they awarded wild cards by FIBA Africa on Thursday.
However, KPA captain Okall Koronga is optimistic his side will weather the storm and secure passage through to the final round.
"We have fought hard to get to where we are now. However, our dream is getting to the next stage, which is only the first part of the plan," Korongo told Xinhua on Thursday in Nairobi.
KPA have been pooled in Group H, which also features host Rwanda's Patriots, City Oilers of Uganda, Ferroviario de Maputo from Mozambique, GNBC of Madagascar, Cobra (South Sudan), JKT (Tanzania) and UNZA Pacers from Zambia.
"The next round will make us even more visible on the African scene. We cannot rest now. We want to make it to BAL 2020 finals in March and we will not leave any stone unturned to get there," Koronga added.
Group G has ASB Mazembe (DRC), Al Naser of Libya, host club Force Armees Police of Yaounde (Cameroon), Abidjan Basketball Club of Cote d'Ivoire, Mali's AS Police, AS Nigelec of Niger, GSP from Algeria and Manga from Gabon.
KPA head coach Sammy Kiki said he is happy with the progress his side has made and is looking forward to dominating the second round.
"I am happy the boys played so well. We went to Madagascar with the sole purpose of qualifying for the second stage of the BAL qualifiers and we took every game seriously. We are happy to qualify as number one. The players have shown their hunger and dream of making the finals in 2020," Kiki said.
