By Olaitan Ibrahim
Nigeria’s cadet women’s basketball team, the junior D’Tigress, have commenced preparations ahead of the forthcoming FIBA U-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup scheduled to take place in Czechia in July, as per a report.
The coach Juliana Ojoshogu Negedu-led side are currently holding intensive practice sessions at the indoor sports hall of the MKO Abiola Stadium, Package B, in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja, as they fine-tune strategies and build cohesion before the start of the global biennial showpiece on July 12.
The team secured their spot at the World Cup by reaching the final of the FIBA U-18 Women’s Afrobasket in South Africa in 2024, where they finished as runners-up behind tournament winners Mali following a 76-56 defeat.
Before the Junior D’Tigress opening camp ahead of the World Cup, the head coach of the MFM Women’s Basketball team Ochuko Owolabi, had stressed the need for early preparations for the nation to do well, stating that two months of training were essential to boost the team’s chances of success. The coach also voiced concerns over Nigeria’s constant habit of late preparation for tournaments.
The coach had said at the time, “Call players that deserve to be in camp. Then, enough preparation. If it’s going to be played in June or July, the least time we should prepare, at least, nothing less than two months. Preparation in camp, and training. It’s not this last two weeks, three weeks training before.”
Nigeria will be making her debut at the FIBA U-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup, having missed the 2011 edition held in Chile which they had qualified for by finishing runners-up behind Egypt at the 2010 FIBA Africa U-18 Championship for Women in Cairo. The team did not turn up for the 2011 tournament where they had been placed in Group C alongside Chile, Australia and France.
The Junior D’Tigress are one of Africa’s two representatives at the FIBA Women’s U-19 World Cup alongside Mali and have been drawn in Group B where they will face Portugal, China and Canada. The team will take on China in their opening game on July 12, before going head-on against Canada on July 13. They will conclude the group phase with a clash against Portugal on July 15, before the knockout stages commence.
Since the inception of the FIBA U-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in 1985, the United States of America are the defending champion and all-time record holders of the tournament, having won the event 10 times. The old Soviet Union have claimed the tournament twice, although, after the break-up of the Union, Russia won the 2017 edition while Australia and the Czech Republic have also won it once.