Four-time African champions, D’Tigress are once again fine-tuning preparations to get themselves in shape to test their skills, resilience and strength against world’s best teams at the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to begin on July 23, after its initial postponement due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The draw, which was conducted on Tuesday morning at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland, pitted the 2003 All Africa Games winners, D’Tigress against Olympics defending champions USA, France and hosts Japan in Group B.
In a shift from the norm, the format of the tournament has changed. Where there used to be two groups of six teams, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with basketball’s governing body, FIBA’s approval, there will now be three groups of four teams.
The USA women’s team is the top-ranked team in the world; France is ranked fifth, and Japan is 10th on the ranking table with the Nigerian team in 14th place. (DailyTrust)