Category: Sports

Sports

African boys win Jr NBA international pool, go on to global final

Basketball is progressing in Africa and so is the talent of the youth playing it, Refiloe Seiboko reports from Orlando, Florida

Somewhere in the United States, thousands and thousands of kilometres from home, a new generation of basketball players is being ushered in.

The Jr NBA Global Championship tournament which is underway for the second consecutive year in Orlando, Florida, is a youth basketball tournament for the top 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls from around the world. Three-hundred and sixteen teenagers have been competing and the semifinals began on Saturday.

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Sports

Jackson State University students go to Ghana, gain understanding of ‘Sankofa’

By Donna Ditota

About three weeks ago, Bourama Sidibe and John Bol Ajak were driven to New York City by a Syracuse basketball team manager to secure a visa that would enable them to travel to Italy with their Orange teammates.

Sidibe, a native of the African nation of Mali, carries a 5-year student visa, which enables him to stay in the United States until its expiration date. But to travel anywhere outside the U.S., Sidibe needs to secure a visa. Ajak, who came to America by way of South Sudan and then Kenya, is governed by the immigration laws of South Sudan and his case apparently was complicated by his restrictive immigration status.

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Athletics

Kenya’s Jepkosgei, Korio win 2019 Beach to Beacon

By  Liam Nee

CAJoyciline Jepkosgei and Alex Korio, both of Kenya, won 2019 TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race in Cape Elizabeth. Jepkosgei, 25, finished in 31:05, averaging about 5-minute miles. It’s the race’s fastest time since Mary Keitany’s 30:41 course record set in 2017.

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Sports

The NBA Is Pushing Into Africa. Can It Compete With Soccer?

By Sarah Maslin Nir

Even though he was 6-foot-6 by the time he was 14 years old, when an aspiring basketball star in Senegal picked up a ball for the first time, his friends were skeptical: In this soccer-mad region, why bother with a ball you dunk, when everyone else is kicking?

“My friends thought I was weird in the beginning,” said the young player, Mouhamed Lamine Mbaye, now 18 (and 6-foot-9), as he stood on the court of a new basketball academy, the first to be built by the NBA in West Africa.

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Sports

Nigerian Efe Ajagba out-punches Demirezen

Remains undefeated after 11 fights, although this was a much harder test.

By Keith Idec

Ali Eren Demirezen demonstrated Saturday night that Efe Ajagba remains very much a work in progress. The previously unbeaten Turkish heavyweight gave Ajagba the toughest fight of the Nigerian knockout artist’s two-year pro career. Ajagba went the distance for the first time in 11 professional fights and had difficulty dealing with Demirezen’s pressure at times in a fight that seemed more competitive than two of the three scorecards suggested.

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Sports

Audible Football Camp to Launch Morocco’s First American Football Conference

By Celia Konstantellou 

Audible Football Camp, a non-profit US organization, will partner with Rabat Pirates, the Moroccan association of American football, to organize the first major American football conference in the country’s history.

The five-day conference will be held from July 12 to July 16, 2019 in Ben Slimane. It will be open to all American football lovers, including people who are already play the sport, as well as to anyone seeking to discover more about it.

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Sports

‘The Mike Tyson of MMA’ Cameroonian Francis Ngannou destroys Junior dos Santos in 71-second TKO

By Brian Mazique 

Cameroonian heavyweight Francis Ngannou needed just 71 seconds to destroy former heavyweight champion and vaunted striker Junior dos Santos. A clubbing right hand from Ngannou resulted in a broken and visibly shifted nose for dos Santos. He promptly asked to be allowed to challenge for the UFC heavyweight Championship.

Here is a look at the finish:

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Sports

Yorgan De Castro becomes first UFC fighter from Cape Verde

Following his win on Dana White’s Contender Series last week, Yorgan De Castro says it’s “very special” to be the first UFC fighter from Cape Verde, Africa.

De Castro joined a growing list of Africans on the UFC roster, including welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, interim titleholder Israel Adesanya, Francis Ngannou, Sodiq Yusuff, Kennedy Nzechukwu, and Don Madge.

By Nick Baldwin.

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Sports

Wizards to dangle $10M Per-Year Contract Offer to Lure Raptors’ Masai Ujiri to Washington

By Chris Bengel

The Toronto Raptors are fresh off of winning their first NBA title in franchise history after defeating the Golden State Warriors. However, with that type of success, a team’s assets are coveted by the rest of the league.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Washington Wizards are “preparing” a massive $10 million per year offer for Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and are expected to seek permission from Toronto to speak with him about their vacancy in the coming days.

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Sports

Three Africans help Toronto Raptors Win NBA finals

There has been wild celebrations all over Canada as Toronto Raptors became the first team from the country to win the NBA finals. Three Africans were pivotal in helping Raptors beat Golden State Warriors in Game 6 to to win the championship for the first time in their history.

Raptors President, Masai Ujiri from Nigeria, Pascal Siakem from Cameroon and Serge Ibaka from Congo DR are among the African contingent that have brought joy to Canada.

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Sports

Scott becomes MLB’s first South African pitcher

South African-born Tayler Scott made history over the weekend when he made his debut for the Seattle Mariners in Major League Baseball (MLB). Scott became the first South African pitcher to appear in an MLB game and the second South African to feature in the prestigious American league after Gift Ngoepe.

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Sports

The NBA’S New Africa League Builds On Strong Foundation

By Jack McCaslin

Popular culture, including sports, has long been one of America’s most powerful exports. Athletes, in turn, have been influential ambassadors, if not for the U.S. government, then for America writ large. Last week, for the first time in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, the Finals tipped off outside of the United States, in Toronto. While only about two hours away from the U.S. border at Niagara Falls, the NBA has set its sights much farther afield.

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People, Sports

Nigerian sends Canada’s only NBA team to its first final in history

By Francis Akhalbey

On Sunday, the Toronto Raptors made history when they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 100 – 94 to qualify for its first ever NBA playoff finals in its history.

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People, Sports

Raptors’ revelation: Cameroonian Pascal Siakam ‘has the spirit our game needs’

BY Marc J. Spears

Cameroon born Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, who was recently named a finalist for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, is focused on helping his team make its first Finals appearance in franchise history.

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Sports

Kenyan man, woman win Cleveland Marathon

 By: Courtney Shaw

A man and woman from Kenya have been crowned the winners of the Cleveland Marathon.

Edwin Kamaiyo, 33, made his American racing debut by overtaking two-time champion Philemon Terrer near the 24-mile mark and holding on for victory in the 42nd annual Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. His winning time was 2:22:02.

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