By Raphael Ekpang
Mr. Igoche Mark, the initiator of Mark ‘D’ Ball Basketball Championship has poured encomiums on Nigeria’s senior women basketball team, D’Tigress, for their victory at the 2023 Afrobasket championship in Kigali, Rwanda.
Defending champions, D’Tigress defeated their Senegalese counterparts 84 – 74 in the final of the championship to win their fourth consecutive title.
An elated Mark, said that D’Tigress victory was confirmation of her dominance of the sport in Africa.
He commended the team for their superlative performance in the tournament and praised them for doing the nation proud.
“Clearly now D’Tigress dominance of the sport is indisputable.
“This is the evidence that Nigeria’s women basketball can be ranked as a World-class programme.
“We have to sustain this momentum. This is remarkable, winning the Afrobasketball Championships for an unprecedented fourth time, despite the challenges before the championship.This singular action typifies the Nigerian spirit.
“I salute the team (D’Tigress) for their professional commitment and execution by putting smiles on the faces of Nigerians.They have done the nation proud against all odds,” Mark stated.Mark who was full of praise towards one of Nigeria’s top basketball investor, Mohammed Shehu, whose state of the artt basketball arena served as camping ground for the D’Tigress before the Afrobasket Championship in Rwanda.
“I’ll also like to appreciate and congratulate Mohammed Shehu for the successful completion of the state of the art(Mo Arena), a befitting arena in Abuja and one of the best, if not the best in Nigeria, where our ladies camped before setting out to achieve this great feat.” Mark concludes.
The D’Tigress finished with significant victories over DR Congo, Egypt, Mozambique and host Rwanda before beating Senegal in Saturday’s final.
