Julius Okorie
Nigeria’s women basketball team, D’Tigress, fought like real tigers on Sunday in Paris to book a place in Olympic quarterfinals after beating defending Champions, Canada, 79-70.
The keenly contested match saw the Nigerian side dig deep to checkmate equally fighting Canada who found their Nigerian counterparts a hard nut to crack.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe first quarter of the highly entertaining match had ended 18-18 followed by the second which Nigeria lose 23-19. But in the third quarter, the Nigerian ladies successfully turned the table running away with 5-23 victory.
Though the last quarter finished 24-19 in favour of Canada the overall score saw the Rena Wakama tutored side triumph 70-79 to hit the quarterfinal the best performance in the Olympics so far.
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Recall that before heading to the Olympics in Paris, the Nigerian side were seeking to win their first ever match in the Olympics in 20 years. It may be late in coming but the Tigress have become the first African team to play in the quarterfinals.
From all indications, the no nonsense approach of Coach Rena Wakama and the doggedness of the players, point to a possible above par performance in the long run in this Olympics. In the second match played earlier today, Belgium beat Japan 85-58.
Quarterfinals games will be played on Wednesday, 7th August.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
