NAN-S-5
Basketball
By Babatunde Ogunrinde
Lagos Jan. 19, 2016 (NAN) Abdulrahman Mohammed, the coach of D’Tigers, on Friday in Lagos said he was confident of his team’s ability to excel at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia in April.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that D’Tigers finished fourth after losing 75-78 to England at the Melbourne Games in Australia in 2006 when basketball was first introduced.
Australia and New Zealand won the gold and silver medals at the Games, which has since then been the sport’s only appearance at the Olympics.
“We are currently ranked number one in Africa, and we have to strive hard to maintain that when the competition begins in April.
“With the caliber of players in camp and the determination to prove their worth, I am confident that we will surprise many and surpass our previous position in 2006 of fourth,’’ Mohammed said.
He however acknowledged that the team would still need some test games to assess their level of preparedness.
“Quite alright we still need a friendly tour where we will play against the very best teams in the world so as to sharpen our team.
“But we have the belief that the team will do well,’’ Mohammed told NAN.
NAN reports that Nigeria has been grouped alongside Australia, New Zealand and Canada in Pool A at the Gold Coast Games.
They will face New Zealand on April 6 in their first game, Canada on April 7 and Australia on April 9.
NAN reports that the basketball event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games will feature 16 teams, with eight male and eight female.
Participating teams were invited by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in conjunction with FIBA based on their ranking on FIBA World Ranking.
Nigeria`s men team are participating in the competition based on their position as the top-ranked team coming from Africa/Commonwealth Nations.(NAN)
BAO/ERO/OLAL
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara and Olawale Alabi)