Guyana’s male U16 basketball team has been placed in Zone-A and the female team in Zone-B following the draw for the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) championships which will be staged here in July.
The random draw took place at Cara Lodge by CBC President Glyne Clarke and Vice President of Media and Marketing Patrick Haynes.
Utilizing marked balls representing the participating nations, the 10-team draw for the men’s section was conducted first.
Guyana, as hosts, was afforded the opportunity to choose which pool they would like to be in prior to the fifth and final round.
In the first round of the draw, British Virgin Islands (BVI) were selected in Zone-A and Aruba in Zone-B. Bahamas and Suriname were the round two entrants in Zone-A and Zone-B respectively while Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were selected in round three for Zone-A and Zone-B correspondingly.
In round four of the draw, Dominica was chosen for Zone-A while Jamaica was placed in Zone-B.
It was at this moment that Guyana’s representative and GABF President Nigel Hinds opted to select Zone-B for the hosts which meant that Antigua and Barbuda were placed in Zone-A.
Guyana was afforded a similar opportunity in the seven team women’s draw as they were allowed to choose which pool to be a part of following the conclusion of the third and final round.
The first round witnessed Antigua and Barbuda and Bahamas being chosen for Zone-A and Zone-B respectively.
In the second round, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were placed in Zone-A and Zone-B correspondingly while BVI and Suriname were picked to be in Zone-A and Zone-B respectively.
Guyana was then asked to select which pool they would like to feature in and, after a moment of deliberation, Hinds selected Zone-A.
Following the draw, Hinds, during brief remarks expressed gratitude to Clarke and for making the process so simple, noting that based on the groups, Guyana’s teams should at the minimum reach the semi-finals.
The CBC u16 Championships will run from July 4th-16th and the top three teams will qualify for the 2017 CentroBasket U-17 Men and Women’s Championships.
The Youth Championship was last held in St John’s, Antigua in 2008, with Bahamas emerging the winner of both the Men’s and Women’s Championships.
Men’s tournament-
Zone-A: – BVI, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda.
Zone-B: – Aruba, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Guyana.
Women’s competition
Zone A Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, BVI, Guyana
Zone B The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname
