“Amazing” – Award-winning Super Eagles star applauds as Nigeria’s D’Tigress beat Canada to set new Olympics record

Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has praised Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, for their impressive performance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Soccernet.ng reports.

On Sunday, D’Tigress secured a 79-70 victory over Canada, to advance to their first-ever quarterfinals in the Olympics.

The match, held at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in France, saw the Nigerian team making history in their final Group B encounter.

The game started evenly, with both teams tied at 18 points by the end of the first quarter.

However, D’Tigress found themselves trailing 41-37 at halftime.

Determined to make history, the Nigerian team ramped up their efforts in the third quarter, taking the lead 55-46 and maintaining their advantage until the final whistle.

It is the first time any African team, male or female, has reached the final eight stage of the basketball event in Olympics history. 

Troost-Ekong, who captained Nigeria to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, expressed his pride in the team’s accomplishment.

“Amazing achievement 🙌🏽 let’s go all the way!” he wrote on Twitter.

Nigeria now top their group with five classification points, awaiting the result of the match between France and Australia later in the day.

Led by Rena Wakama, D’Tigress bounced back from a defeat to France in their second game, having won their opener against Australia.