South Sudan’s victory over Puerto Rico within the Olympic males’s basketball competitors has “united” the nation, in accordance with ahead Bul Kuol.
The Vivid Stars, thirty third on the planet rankings, opened their Group C marketing campaign with a 90-79 win over their higher-ranked opponents on Sunday.
The end result has been an enormous supply of delight for the world’s latest nation – on what was the workforce’s first look on the Olympic stage.
“It brings us collectively,” stated the 27-year-old after the match.
“It doesn’t matter what tribe you’re from or what you’re dealing with – adversity, the warfare, or no matter.
“It’s like each single tribe, each single city has been united.”
Carlik Jones led South Sudan’s scoring stats with 19 factors, with Kuol including 12 of his personal together with three assists and three rebounds.
“It’s a large win for us at our first ever Olympics,” he stated.
“To get it accomplished within the first recreation, it units the tone for what we’re making an attempt to do.”
Like most of the gamers within the squad, civil warfare in South Sudan meant Kuol spent a part of his childhood rising up in a refugee camp earlier than shifting from Kenya to Australia in 2006 when he was 9 years outdated.
He believes the workforce’s maiden success in Paris helps the nation write a brand new, extra constructive chapter in its historical past.
“It’s a brand new starting for all of us. The following technology now has a platform to develop on – and that is it proper right here.”