Cobra Sports Club, commonly known as Cobra Sport, are a South Sudanese basketball team based in Juba, South Sudan. The team was established in 2017 and plays in the Central Equatoria State Basketball Association (CESBA). Cobra has won three national championships.
| Cobra Sport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Nickname | CSC | ||
| Conference | Nile | ||
| Leagues | CESBA Basketball Africa League | ||
| Founded | 2017 | ||
| History | Cobra Sport 2017–present | ||
| Arena | Dr. Biar Sports Complex | ||
| Location | Juba, South Sudan | ||
| General manager | Ajak Biar Deng | ||
| Head coach | Manny Berberi | ||
| Championships | 3 South Sudanese Leagues 1 Manute Bol Cup | ||
|
| |||
Cobra played in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) during the 2022 season as the first team from South Sudan in league history.
History
editThe sports club was founded in 2014 by Biardit Company Limited.[1] The basketball team was established in 2017.[2]
Basketball Africa League
editIn 2020, Cobra played in its first continental games when it participated in the qualifiers for the 2020 BAL season.[3][4] Cobra played in Group F in Antananarivo and ended in third place, missing out on advancing to the next round.[5] However, the club advanced with a wild card before losing all next three games in the Elite 16 stage.
On 20 September 2021, Cobra signed John Jevish Omondi from Kenya as their new head coach.[2] The team played in the 2022 BAL qualification for a second straight season. In the first round, the team lost both its games but managed to advance with a wild card given by FIBA. Ahead of the second round, the team acquired Kenyan international Tom Wamukota and Rwandan international Dieudonné Ndizeye. With its strengthened roster, Cobra managed to advance to the semi-finals after defeating Ulinzi Warriors in the second round. On December 10, 2021, Cobra defeated New Star and claimed a spot in the regular season of the 2022 BAL season.[6] The team became the first-ever team from South Sudan to qualify for the BAL.
Honours
edit- Champions (3): 2018, 2019, 2021–22
- The NBA Legend Manute Bol Cup
- Winners (1): 2019
In the Basketball Africa League
edit| Season | Road to BAL | Main competition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Result | Qualified | W | L | Result | ||
| 2021 | 2 | 5 | Elite 16 | 
|
DNQ | |||
| 2022 | 2 | 4 |  Silver
|
|
1 | 4 | Group Phase | |
| 2023 | Withdrew | DNQ | ||||||
| Total | 4 | 9 | 1/1 | 1 | 4 | |||
Players
editCurrent roster
editThe following is the Cobra Sport 13-man roster for the 2022 BAL season group phase:[8]
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Cobra Sport roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Updated: April 9, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable players
editNote: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Criteria |
|---|
|
To appear in this section a player must have either:
|
References
edit- ^ "Cobra Sports (SOUTH SUDAN)". The BAL. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Cobra basketball club sign new head coach". The City Review South Sudan. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ "Cobra at the Africa Champions Clubs ROAD TO B.A.L 2020 2019". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- ^ "Cobra basketball team in Madagascar". 28 October 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- ^ "Cobra suffer elimination". 4 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- ^ "Ferroviario da Beira and Cobra Sport make history by booking tickets to Basketball Africa League 2022". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ^ "Cobra Sports Club (SOUTH SUDAN)". Basketball Africa League - BAL. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ Cobra Sport - Team Profile at FIBA.com