D’TIGRESS are not intimidated by the prospects of facing the world’s top ranked team, United States of America, in the women’s basketball qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Nigerians ladies were last night drawn to play the Olympic champions as well as African rivals Senegal and hosts Belgium in the tournament scheduled for Antwerp in February.
In a light-hearted reaction to the draw, the current African champions, who have won the Women’s AfroBasket a historic four times back-to-back, used a popular social media meme to show their confidence.
“D’Tigress you have been drawn alongside USA, Senegal and hosts Belgium, would you have preferred an easier group?” the team’s official X, formerly known as Twitter, account asked.
The account responded to its own question with the well-known clip from a film in which the actor, a male warrior, blurts: “I don’t want peace. I want problems always.”
While USA are ranked No.1 in the world by the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA), Belgium are sixth, Nigeria 11th and Senegal 20th.
In other qualifying groups, Brazil will host Germany, Australia and Serbia, while China will play at home against New Zealand, France and a yet to be confirmed team from the Americas.
The fourth group consists of hosts Hungary, Spain, Japan and a yet to be confirmed team from the Americas qualifying tournament scheduled for November.
A total of 16 teams will participate in the four global FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments taking place from February 8 to February 11, 2024, with 12 of them, including the hosts (France) and the winners of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 (USA) advancing to the Olympics.
