National Sports Commission (NSC) director-general, Honourable Bukola Olopade has praised the country’s female youth basketball national team, Junior Tigress, for their ‘commitment, patriotism and discipline,’ which helped them qualify for the 2027 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup, Sports247 reports.
Although the squad lost the final to Mali on Sunday, Olopade praised the team for securing an early qualification to next year’s global championship in China, then commended Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) and its president, Engineer Ahmad Musa Kida, for a job well done.
While promising total support towards the World Cup, Olopade further hailed Kida for his exemplary leadership acumen, which the NSC’s DG noted continues to drive progressive success of Nigeria’s basketball national teams in Africa and on the global stage.
He noted that the Nigerian girls demonstrated resilience in their semi-final tie with host nation, Côte d’Ivoire at the FIBA U18 Women’s AfroBasket, as they defied the home crowd to eke out a hard-fought 53-50 win and pick a World Cup ticket before Sunday’s final.
“The girls have done very well to secure their place at the Women’s World Cup in China next year, which shows their commitment, patriotism, and discipline. Now that the World Cup ticket has been secured, I want to assure that the NSC will ensure they get the best of preparations.
“(As we look) ahead of the World Cup in China, we will work closely with the NBBF to make sure the girls have an impactful campaign,” said Olopade, who also gave assurances of full support from the federal government in the teenage girls’ quest for global glory.
