BUJUMBURA November 15th (ABP) – The basketball tournament called the CRDB Cup organized by the Federation of Basketball of Burundi (FEBABU) in collaboration with the CRDB Bank to celebrate ten years of services in Burundi, was closed with matches in final on Sunday, November 13 at the sports department, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
The small finals or the classification matches preceded the finals. For the ladies, the young sisters won the victory by defeating Messager Ngozi with an average score of 66 points to 47 and the Hippos defeated Gymkhana by a heavy score of 113 to 81.
The final was played between the Gazelles and Gladiateurs teams for the women and Urunani and Dynamo for the men, traditional rivals. The Gazelles won against the Gladiators with a score of 54 points to 39 and Urunani defeated Dynamo without difficulty with a score of 68 points to 40.
The champion teams each received a cup and a check for 5 million BIF, the second champions received a check for three million BIF, the 3rd one million and the 4th five hundred thousand BIF.
The leader of FEBABU, apostle Jean Paul Manirakiza, thanked the CRDB which accepted to finance the tournament, pointing out that what was impressive is that this Bank treated the women’s and men’s teams in the same way.
That event was honored with the presence of the Leader of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Africa, Mr. Anibal Aurelio Manavel visiting Burundi. Addressing the fans of theball, he indicated that he came to see the level reached by Burundians in Basketball and see how to help them progress further. He expressed satisfaction with the level basketball has reached as Burundian teams participate in competitions at the highest level, pointing to the New Star team which represented Burundi in the qualifiers for the African Basketball League last year and Urunani that represents Burundi this year.
During his stay in Burundi, he will meet various authorities of this country, in particular the minister in charge of sport and the officials of basketball clubs, including that of the Urunani team which will soon represent Burundi in South Africa in matches for qualification of the 16 elites who will participate in the Basketball African League (BAL 2023) in Kigali, Rwanda.
The Deputy Managing Director (ADG) of the CRDB Mr. Ménard Bucumi indicated that it is a source of pride for the CRDB to have organized this event which mobilized a large world of basketball enthusiasts and this shows that the CRDB is in the process of forging relations with Basketball, indicating that this bank has rehabilitated the basketball court in Ngozi (north of the country) and intends to open an agency in Gitega (central Burundi) where it will also invest in Basketball.
He indicated that he took note of the projects available to the leader of FEBABU and that the CRDB will see how it could be useful to him. He called on fans of the basketball to approach this bank in order to benefit from the advantages it offers to its customers and not just rub shoulders with it on the basketball court.