Latvia have ended the hope of African participation in the forthcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11, after defeating Cameroon by a 13-point margin, 72-59, to advance to the final, Completesports.com reports.
Cameroon had remained as the only African country at the ongoing 2024 FIBA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) after the elimination of other three countries, hoping to secure a ticket out of the available four slots.
The three African countries that bowed out in the group stage are Egypt, Angola, and Côte d’Ivoire.
It can be recalled that the road to the knockout stages for the Cameroonian side was a Herculean task. They lost their first match against Montenegro by a slim 4-point margin, 66-70, but keenly contested to secure a crucial win against Brazil, ending with a slim 3-point margin, 77-74.
However, the three other African countries ended their campaign after losing their two round robin matches. Egypt lost to Greece despite the absence of Nigerian-born Greek power forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was not featured in the match.
Greece won with a comfortable 22-margin gap, 93-71, to get to the semi-finals where they beat Luka Doncic’s Slovenia’ squad.
Angola were defeated by Lebanon by a slim 4-margin, 70- 74, while Cote d’ Ivoire lost by a 11-margin , 81-92, to Mexico.
After the conclusion of the round robin games, the twenty-four participating countries have been reduced to sixteen in the knock-out stages and later eight among the four host countries.
The eventual four winners will bag the tickets to fill the available four slots at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
By Dotun Omisakin
