President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with national female basketball team, D’Tigress, for a highly impressive outing at the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2019 in Dakar, Senegal, winning the hosts at the final by 60-55.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that victory for D’tigress meant that they also successfully defend the title they won two years ago after defeating Senegal 65-48 in Bamako in 2017.
President Buhari, in a statement by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja late Sunday night, congratulated the team for the remarkably synergized play.
The president observed that this had enabled them to outpace and outplay all the teams at the tournament to retain the title they won in 2017, further consolidating their position as African champions with four titles.
He commended the team for ”discipline, maturity and focus all through the tournament, and deliberateness in promoting the Nigerian flag and accompanying virtues of resilience, persistence and dogged pursuit until victory was achieved.”
President Buhari expressed appreciation to all the officials and technical hands that guided the team to win the African title, urging them to remain focused in deploying such energy and talent in subsequent global tournaments.
In a keenly-contested final match played on Sunday at the magnificent Dakar Arena which had as much as 15, 000 fans watching, the Nigeria women beat host Senegal 60-55 to win back-to-back continental titles.
NAN