Nigeria’s national female basketball team, D’Tigress, 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup fate has been sealed after they were drawn against Serbia, France, Canada, Japan and Australia in Group B.
The draws took place in Australia in preparation for the world cup scheduled to run from September 22 – October 1, 2022.
It will be recalled that the Nigerian side qualified from the Belgrade tournament, after beating France and Mali.
They will meet France again after they came from a 20-point deficit to defeat in Belgrade in February.
It was stated in the Nigerian team’s official Twitter handle minutes after the organizers did the draws. “The @FIBAWWC draw is set!! Assignment understood.”
The tournament has two groups with a total of 10 countries. In group A, world number one, China is joined with Belarus, Korea, United States, Bosnia Herzegovina and one other team yet to be determined.
Meanwhile, the factional president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engr Musa Kida has underscored the place of hard work and strategic preparation in D’Tigress success.
Kida while reacting said, “In the last four years, we have continued to shock the world and other teams are now paying some serious attention to us. To continue on that path, we have to work extra hard to sustain the tempo”.
In line with its continued resolve to give its national teams the best preparation as allowed by resources at its disposal, the Otis Hughley led team will play some grade A friendlies while in camp.
“This is where the Federal Government comes in through funding. Early approval and release of funds is at the core of all our proposed plans. Preparing for such an important tournament costs money and we will be banking on the Federal Government.
“We are no longer referred to as just another team from Africa. We are now being addressed as Nigeria based on what we have achieved in the last four years which saw us winning 3 Afrobasket titles, back-to-back world cup qualification and Olympics participation”, Kida said.
Currently the lowest ranked team in the group, D’Tigress are unmindful of the task ahead as the sole representative of Africa at the global and a quest to pick one of the four available quarter finals tickets.
The 2022 FIBA world cup draw
