It's now time to play for Kenya's league champs KPA in qualifiers

KPA's Job Byron (left) in action against Lakeside's Kennedy Okumu during KBF Premier League match at Manyatta Arabs, in Kisumu. [Michael Mute, Standard]

This is it. Reigning national men basketball champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) start their road to Basketball Africa League (BAL) campaign today.

With a match against Roche Bois Warriors of Mauritius, the Kenyans know what is expected of them.

According to the draw, only four teams have turned up for the Group D BAL qualifiers that start today and end on Sunday in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

The tournament was reduced to a four-team affair after the withdrawal of Foxes basketball club from Zimbabwe and Somali's Dekeddaha Sports Club.

The Mombasa-based side will go flat out to try and finish among the top two teams to enable them to qualify for the second and final stage of the elite 16 teams to be played next month in South Africa.

This is what KPA have been wishing for, training for and aiming at. They will be fighting for the two slots available and join Ferroviario da Beira of Mozambique, South Sudan's Cobra Sports and Cape Town Tigers of South Africa who have already qualified for the second stage.

The top three ranked teams at the second round will automatically qualify for next years' African elite BAL league that comprises of 12 teams.

However, KPA who arrived in Madagascar last Monday and embarked on training sessions will have to fend off the hosts Club Omnisport de la Police Nationale (COSPN) and Comoro's Djabal Basket, for a safe passage.

The dockers, who made their debut in the 2019 inaugural event, are aware of what is at stake and with the new inclusion of two top American basketballers Tony Townsend and Wade Lowman, much is expected of them.

Coach Sammy Kiki has also included former KPA and Kenya Moran's forward Ariel Okal who plays for Uganda's Namuwongo Blazers in an effort to qualify for the second round. It's that serious for the dockers. The stakes are that high.

"The road to BAL is not smooth and we must be well equipped in order to overcome the hurdles ahead of us," said Kiki, adding that his focus is to win today's match to make the subsequent matches easy for the players.

"Winning the opening match in any tournament is an added advantage as it instills confidence in the players. We need to win the Friday and Saturday matches against the Warriors and Djabal Basket to automatically qualify for the second round and make the Sunday match against the host COSPN a formality," said Kiki.

COSPN have also beefed up their squad with a player from America. This makes the three-day championships to be more competitive with some of the best American basketballers in action.