Basketball: KPA eye good show as preparations for Basketball Africa League begin

KPA's Gerry Wekesa during warm down before a KBF Premeir League match in Kisumu.[Washington Onyango,Standard]

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) are set to represent the country in the third edition of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) with the group phase set for September.

The 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualifiers have been projected to begin tentatively on September 6 with 48 teams expected to compete.

The dockers who are Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men's Premier League are set to make a return to the qualifiers, after their debut in the inaugural season.

Under the tutelage of Sammy Kiki, the dockers are looking to become the first Kenyan side to make it to the main competition after they faltered in their first attempt.

Ulinzi Warriors failed to go past the qualifying stage in the second edition.

After registration, the teams are to be divided into groups of up to six teams making eight groups. In each group, teams will play in a one-way tournament.

At the conclusion of the group tournaments, the top two ranked teams in each group will qualify for the Qualifying Tournaments. The model was, however, subject to change depending on the final number of teams registered.

KPA are making a return to the NBA-organised tournament after featuring in the inaugural season qualifiers, failing to make it past the Elite 16 after they forfeited their first match of the second round of qualification and could not go past the group stage despite winning the remaining matches.

Last year, Warriors fell at the Qualifying Tournaments phase, finishing last in their group in the tournament held in South Africa.