9th August, 2010
The Nigeria Under 18 women national team to the just concluded 11th FIBA-Africa Championship in Cairo, Egypt, returned to the country on Saturday after picking a ticket for the 2011 FIBA-World Under 19 Championship coming up in Chile from 21-31 July, 2011.
Though the Aderemi ‘Owolo’ Adewunmi tutored side lost in the final to the hosts, Egypt by 63-62 points, they came back to the country with their heads high with their impressive performance in the tourney.
Speaking on arrival aboard Egypt Airline, the Head Coach Adewunmi praised the girls for making the country proud during the championship which saw them beating the defending champions, Mali twice.
He said the Ijeoma Uchendu captained team were outstanding in all the matches they played in the race to book a place in the world championship, which is the first the country got at youth level in African women basketball.
Also speaking, Upe Atosu, one of the team’s point guards, expressed happiness for being part of the team to Egypt.
“It not easy playing Egypt with the crowd, referees and everybody on their side, but at the end of the day they only stopped us by just one point. We are grateful to God for this feat.â€
She charged the federation to help the team by preparing them well for the world championship, saying that with good preparation they can repeat the feat at the world level.
Meanwhile, Basketball Timeout gathered that the team may likely be hosted by the Presidency tomorrow in Abuja.
According to our sources, the President of Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF Tijjani Umar, who works in the Presidency, believes presidential reception will further boost the morale of the ladies .