Basketball: Nigeria to Face Australia, New Zealand and Canada

Nigeria has been grouped alongside Australia, New Zealand and Canada in the basketball event of the 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia .

Despite being ranked number 1 in Africa and 32nd in the world, Nigeria is still the lowest rated team in the group.

Australia who finished 4th at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is ranked 10th in the world. Set to make her debut at the Commonwealth, Canada is ranked 25th in the world and has participated in nine Olympic Games and won a silver medal at the 1936 Games in Berlin.

New Zealand will be taking part in her 21st Commonwealth Games, having competed at every games since inception in 1930 which has seen many people dubbing it as the ‘Group of Death’.

The fixtures released by the organisers yesterday will see D’Tigers start their campaign against New Zealand on Friday 6th April 2018 before facing Canada, a day later.

On Monday, 10th of April, it will be a great battle against the host, Australia.

Reacting to the draws, Vice President of the NBBF, Babatunde Ogunade, described it as a ‘Group of Death.’

The former Nigerian captain said the team’s performance will be hinged on the preparation for the games and the decision of the players to step up and prove a point.

“We want to use it as preparation for the World Cup qualifier in which case we bring in foreign-based players to join their home grown counterparts for a longer period, get more practice and bonding time for the team.

“We will use the opportunity of the Commonwealth camping to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers too,” observed the NBBF chief.

According to organisers, the top two teams in Group Awill proceed to the semifinals stage while the bottom two teams from Group A will play the top two teams from Pool B in the qualifying finals with the 3rd A vs 2nd B and 4th A vs 1st B.

The order of the games will be determined during the competition.

The camping began last Friday, 5th of January, 2018 in Lagos.