Nigeria’s senior national women’s basketball team, D’Tigress captain Sarah Ogoke has withdrawn from the squad that will represent the country at the much anticipated Paris Olympics billed to get underway from July 26 till August 10, Completesports.com reports.
Completesports.com reports that the Nigeria’s apex basketball governing body- Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, had initially released its 16-player squad today, hoping to include the other 12 players after the team’s warm up game in Saarbrucken, Germany for a pre-Olympic training camp.
Announcing Ogoke’s withdrawal via the federation’s official ‘X’ handle, the NBBF’s Head of media team, Joi John, extolled the unwavering dedication Ogoke had offered to the national team, noting that she won’t participate at the Olympics due to personal reasons.
“Regrettably due to personal reasons. Sarah Ogoke will not be part of the team at the 2024 Paris Olympics,” the statement read.
“While this is a disappointment, we trust in our resilience and commitment to make Nigeria proud. Sarah sends her best wishes to the team and will be cheering us virtually.”
The invited players include Ezinne Kalu, Amy Okonkwo, Promise Amukamara and Elizabeth Balogun.
Other were; Tomi Two, Ifunanya Okoro, Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, Murjanatu Musa, Lauren Ebo and Blessing Ejiofor.
NBBF also listed Solape Amusan, Rita Igbokwe, Nicole Enabosi, Adebola Adeyeye, Christeen Iwuala and Lucy Ibeh.
Sarah Ogoke Profile
Sarah Ogoke made her debut for the Nigerian Women’s National team at the 2011 All African Games in Mozambique, and Afrobasket Women’s Championship in Mali the same year.
She captained the D’Tigress to claim the historic fourth consecutive Afrobasket title, after edging the Senegalese women in the final of the 2023 women’s championship 84-74 at the BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda.
The D’Tigress’ shooting guard participated in the 2017 Women’s Afrobasket, the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, and 2019 Women’s Afrobasket.
She won four consecutive Women’s AfroBasket (2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023) with D’Tigress.
By Dotun Omisakin
