CAEN (AfroBasket Women) - Four years on, and Frenchman Herve Coudray is back at the helm of Mali's women national team for AfroBasket Women 2015.

Back in 2011, Coudray guided the team to a third-place finish in Mali's capital city of Bamako.

The hosts were left disappointed as they fell short in the Semi-Final against Angola. They did bounce back to prevail against Nigeria in the Third-Place Game.

The result though was nowhere near what Herve and Mali's Basketball Federation had aimed for.

Having played at the 2008 Beijing Games on the back of winning AfroBasket Women 2007, they were attempting to make it consecutive appearances at the Olympics. However, there was only one automatic place for the 2012 London Olympics at stake for African teams in Bamako and Mali fell short of it.

But Coudray returns hopeful and confident that they can do better this time around.

Last week, he announced a 25-player preliminary squad, including the best talents Mali has to offer.

Coudray will run his first training camp, beginning on Saturday 20 June, and expects to hold extended preparations scheduled to take place in Mali and France in August.

Mali - who qualified for this year's AfroBasket Women by virtue of their fifth-place finish in Maputo, Mozambique two years ago - will take on Guinea in Bamako (28-30 June) in a battle to qualify for the All-African Games that will take place in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo in September.

Talking to FIBA.com before his trip to Bamako, Coudray insisted Mali has enough talent to succeed in Yaounde, Cameroon which will host Africa's biggest women's basketball competition from 24 September-3 October.

"Of course we were disappointed with our AfroBasket Women 2011 campaign," he recalled.

"We couldn't believe what had just happened after losing to Angola in the Semi-Finals." 

Our goal at AfroBasket Women is to achieve the best result possible and qualify for the Olympics. Everybody wants to go to Rio,  so do we. - Coudray

When asked to explain what makes him confident in his new experience with Mali, Coudray points to how close they came to achieving their goal of winning the African Championship four years ago, and the fact that the Federation and its president thought he should continue what he started.

"I am glad that Hamchetou Maiga, who played for me in the national team, acknowledged my work and recommended me to the Federation," he offered.

"Now, it is time to do things better than we did in the past, and go for revenge.

"Although some of my players are tall, they can, shoot the ball and jump. We just need to improve their basketball skills.

"There is a group of U19 players that I look forward to work with."

Coudray selected two of the most prominent Mali players - Djene Diawara and Djenebou Sissoko - in his squad with neither taking part in this first training camp, but both are be expected to join the team in August.

Diawara had a tremendous season with Arras D'Artois in the French top women's flight, and Coudray took notice.

The 1.92m center was voted the MVP of the Ligue Feminine de Basket and could be one of Mali's leaders.

Her future looks brighter than never.

"I am happy for Djene. She has played the best season of her basketball career in France," said Coudray.

"But, let's not forget about Naignouma [Coulibaly], who was fantastic in the Hungarian league also."

Mali will open their AfroBasket Women 2015 campaign in Group A with hosts Cameroon, Mozambique, South Africa, Gabon and Uganda.

For the newly-appointed coach, Cameroon could be tough to play against.

"Host nations are always difficult to play against and we are going to need to be ready to face Cameroon," Coudray warned.

"They will have their fan base supporting the team, I am sure it is going to be a tough match-up.

"Similarly, Angola, Mozambique and Senegal are tough opponents."

FIBA