The deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has urged Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress to win the Olympic gold medal.
Kalu encouraged the ladies while praising them over their remarkable feat at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Nigerian female basketball team, D’Tigress on Sunday made history at Paris 2024 after beating Canada 79-70 to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games.
D’Tigress, playing their third group recorded a remarkable victory over a strong Canadian team who are ranked number 5 in the world.
D’Tigress have thus made history by becoming the first African team, whether male or female to reach the Olympic basketball quarter-finals.
Eminent Nigerians have been reacting to the team’s achievement and the House of Reps deputy speaker, Kalu was not left out as he praised D’Tigress.
“Big congratulations to our women’s basketball team, @DtigressNG for advancing to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Olympics after defeating Canada in Paris, France,” he wrote in a post shared on his X account.
“This historic achievement marks them as the first African team, male or female, to reach the Olympic quarter-finals.
“I encourage them to keep up this momentum and bring home the gold. The nation is immensely proud and cheering them on.”
The Nigerian women’s team despite being the lowest-ranked team in the Olympic women’s basketball tournament opened their campaign with a stunning 75-62 upset victory over No. 3 Australia last Monday.
D’Tigress not only won but did so in emphatic style, winning three of four quarters, including a sensational 11-0 run that helped them to a 13-point lead in the first quarter.
In doing so, they became the first African team to defeat the Opals in 12 games at a major tournament, including the World Cup but they lost 75-64 to host, France in their second Group B match.
Following their defeat to the host nation, the Nigerian women’s basketball side knew they had to defeat Canada in their third group game at Paris 2024 on Sunday to qualify for the quarter-finals, something they did in grand style.
