There has been no change at the top of the 13th edition of the Arab Women's Basketball Championship currently taking place in Al-Qadisiyah, as the Egyptian national team has solidified its lead with four points from two consecutive victories. Yesterday, they defeated Morocco 81-58 in the second round, awaiting their next match against the Algerian team. It's worth noting that Egypt's last match in the preliminary round against the under-19 team is excluded from point calculations since their participation is honorary, aimed at preparing for the World Youth Championship scheduled to take place in Spain this month.
Returning to the match, it was exciting and competitive in the first eight minutes, during which the Moroccan team managed to equalize at 15-15 despite feeling fatigued from their journey to Cairo, arriving on the morning of the game. However, the hosts asserted their dominance in the remaining minutes and proved themselves as the front-runners for the title, with the goal of traveling to Rwanda for the African finals qualifying for the World Cup.
The scores in the four quarters were 15-25, 19-25, 12-17, and 12-14. Moroccan player Nourah Fifiass scored the highest with 25 points, just two points ahead of Egyptian star Maral Shehab.
Commenting on the victory, Egyptian coach Ihab Al-Alfi stated that his team knew how to handle the game both on the perimeter and in the paint, successfully completing 46 rebounds, 30 of which were on defense. He added that the Moroccan team had better technical capabilities, but they were fatigued from traveling. Al-Alfi anticipated a meeting between the two teams again in the final match.
Algeria opened the round with a significant victory over Kuwait in their first Arab participation, finishing with a score of 88-41. The scores for the quarters were 33-6, 23-16, 20-8, and 12-11. Kuwaiti coach Salman Ramadan stated that the loss should not diminish his team's spirit, as this is their first appearance in an Arab championship, and they will benefit from competing against stronger, more experienced teams.
In another context, Abdullah Shalabi, Secretary-General of the Arab Basketball Federation, expressed satisfaction with the improvement in team performance in every round, stating that the real excitement will unfold in the final stages, wishing success to all participating teams.