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POOR D’TIGRESS; A MISS AS GOOD AS A MILE

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The match went back and forth as if it was meant to be a party for both sides jostling for the seventh position in the tournament.

In the end, it was Canada propelled by Nigerians among them that had the upper hand winning 73-72, perhaps the narrowest margin in all the matches of the tournament.

Poor D’Tigress! Their miss was as good as a mile. Both looked equally matched especially considering the ‘Nigerian’ blood flowing in both teams.

Nigerian-born Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe scored valuable points for Canada

Canada had Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, a Nigerian-born as her Nigerian father, Charles Ekunwe, works at Toronto Airport. They also had Natalie Achonwa whose father emigrated from Nigeria to Canada when he was12.

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Nigerian-born Natalie Achonwa playing for Canada.

So, Nigerian-born Canadian Raincock-Ekunwe and full-blooded Evelyn Akhator were almost making the game a private party, exchanging points. Canada up 72-70 with 15 seconds left in the game.    They also had the possession.

The Nigerian team should however be more than happy with this finish, as the eighth place in the world is the best ever finish for any African team.

 

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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