Former Nigeria national women’s basketball player Mfon Udoka has played down D’Tigress chances at the Paris Olympics.
D’Tigress will be making their third appearance at the Olympics after debuting at Athens 2004 and also qualifying for Tokyo 2020.
The coach Rena Wakama-led side are in a tough group that has hosts France, Canada and Australia.
They will open their campaign against Australia on Sunday, July 29, face France on Thursday, August 1 before ending the group phase with a clash against Canada on Sunday, August 4.
Udoka, a member of the side that featured at the Athens Olympics said it will be a difficult outing for the African champions.
“I did see the final roster and my initial thought was the lack of experience,” she said on Brila FM. “Even though they’ve been playing it’s important to have experience especially when you get to an international tournament like the Olympics, that might be an issue.
“I think the group is very difficult because you have the best teams in the world and you wouldn’t get an easy game so they will get a very difficult time and I’m hoping that maybe they can sneak one win but it’s definitely a challenging and uphill battle for us.”
In their two previous outing at the Olympics, D’Tigress failed to go beyond the group stage.
Meanwhile, D’Tigress will take on Japan today (Wednesday) in their final preparation game.
They lost to Germany and Serbia in their two other friendly games ahead of the Paris Olympics.
5 Comments
It’s a shame that Arike Ogunbowale with all her skills did not deem it fit to represent Nigeria but instead is trying to force her way to Team USA. Now she is not going to the Olympics because they did not want her while Nigeria would have embraced her in warm love, and she would have brought glory to her family in Nigeria. This is the worst decision and I’m sure she will regret it as long as she is here.
She’s got problem with certain elements within the US federation, and personally requested to be taken out of the Olympic list. Thst eotid have been a great opportunity to play for D’Tigers. But I’m not quite sure he’s thinking us. But she’s an absolute beast, tbh. Wish her all the best
You are so right. This is what happened.
My own is she had the chance to represent her family in Nigeria’s D’Tigres but she is busy trying to represent US that dont care about her. Can I say karma is a b-tch?
So Arike Ogunbowale is not representing Team Nigeria? What a shame!