D’Tigress captain Adaora Elonu has called for early preparations after the African champions were drawn in Group B of the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup at a ceremony held in Sydney on Thursday morning.
The competition is scheduled for September 22 to October 1 in Sydney, with D’Tigress pitted against hosts Australia, France, Serbia, Japan and Canada in Group B, while Group A has USA, China, Belgium, Bosnia, Korea and a team yet to be decided after the exclusion of Russia, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Nigerians open their campaign against Japan on September 22.
Team captain, Adaora Elonu, called for early preparation and unity among members of the Nigeria Basketball Federation.
“The coach will design the programme and how long we need to be in camp, but firstly, we need to put our house in order,” Elonu told Nigerian Info.
“We did a good job at the last World Cup in terms of planning, even at the Olympics. I know we are Nigerians and we do a lot of things last minute, so, if we don’t want to struggle, I suggest we start preparations early.”
Also reacting to the draw, an excited point guard, Ezinne Kalu, posted a picture with the caption, “There it is!!! It’s official!”
Former D’Tigress head coach, Scot Nnaji, said with the right preparations, the team, quarter-finalists at the last Wold Cup in Spain, could advance from the group.
“It’s a tough draw no doubt, but I believe they can scale through with good preparations,” Nnaji told The PUNCH.
“There is still a long way to go, the federation and ministry should ensure they get them in camp before the competition. There was no preparation at all for the qualifiers and this need to change if they are to perform well in Sydney.”
First Bank coach, Lateef Erinfolami, also harped on the importance of preparation ahead of the competition.
