LUANDA (2016 Olympics) - Omar Abada did everything in his power to help AfroBasket 2015 hosts Tunisia qualify automatically for the 2016 Olympics but they fell short when they shouldn't have.

In his first official appearance with the senior team, the 22-year-old point guard attacked the basket with ferocity, dished out a number of key assists, energised Tunisia's offensive game but a 58-51 defeat to Angola in the Semi-Finals put his Olympic dream on hold for a few months.

Tunisia - along with Angola and Senegal - secured one of the three places on offer for African teams for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) and the 1.89m guard remains upbeat about their chances. He insists he is taking one step at time to help Tunisia reach the Rio Games.

"Tunisia played in the 2012 London Olympics, and we know that it is the biggest competition in the world. So we will do our best to qualify again," he told FIBA.com.

We have to trust ourselves and compete until the end. If we qualify it will be great, and if not, [at least] it will be a good opportunity to play against top teams. - Abada

But what exactly went wrong with Tunisia who finished with a 6-1 mark at AfroBasket 2015?

Abada says playing Angola was his toughest task so far.

"They have traditions in the tournament and all our last games were close games," he pointed out.

Judging by by his performances at the ongoing 2015 FIBA Africa Champions Cup (ACC) for Tunisian club side Etoile Sportive du Rades, he seems to be proving why he has been rated one of the rising stars in African basketball in recent years.

Abada had 15 points and and 3 assists as Rades opened their campaign in Luanda with an 83-81 loss to reigning champions Recreativo do Libolo, just missing out on causing the biggest upset of the competition so far. They have turned things around since, winning their last three games - including beating title contenders Gezira of Egypt 81-73 - to improve to 3-1.

"Our team is in good shape right now. We are looking to play step by step and try to get better every game. Last year we lost in the final, so this year we have to show everybody that we deserved that and we have to defend our chances until the end," Abada said of the tournament that concludes on Sunday.

One thing is for certain: the more Abada shows up on the international stage, the more he looks prepared for the for the big stage. The former star of Tunisia's youth national teams has gone from being a promising to a proven guard and is now the man that head coach Adel Tlatli has appointed to run the senior men's side's offense. 

Abada believes he can live up to the expectations.

By playing against high level national teams, I learned how to build my personality and became more mature on and off court. My participation at AfroBasket earlier this year was good for me as it helped me improve my game. - Abada

"[Right now] I am working on specific techniques by playing in this kind of tournament [ACC] and I hope to get more experience in order to reach a high level and be able to play in Europe," he explained.

FIBA