South Sudan basketball team has been ranked at number one in Africa, according to the latest ranking published by FIBA Africa.
The ranking, which put South Sudan at 23rd globally, comes ahead of the 31st AfroBasket tournament, which is scheduled to take place in Angola from August 12 to 24.
Côte d’voire came second in the continent and 31st in the world, while Angola, Tunisia, Egypt and Nigeria lined the third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
South Sudan qualified for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup at the first attempt, beating heavyweights Senegal (83-75) and Egypt (97-77) in the final window of the African qualifiers in Alexandria.
They were drawn in Group B, which also included reigning African champions Tunisia, Cameroon and Rwanda, and breezed through all their games.
For the first time in history, the 32-team FIBA World Championship was held in three countries – the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
Playing in Group B at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines, South Sudan lost 101-96 to Puerto Rico in overtime after blowing a 10-point lead.
They followed up a dominant 89-69 win over China with a 94-72 defeat at the hands of Serbia.
South Sudan finished a respectable 17th after beating Philippines and Angola 87-68 and 101-78 respectively in the classification games.
They later represented the continent at the Paris Olympics.
