Basketball
IRAN JOINS NIGERIA EARN DIRECT ENTRY INTO OLYMPICS AS TUNISIA CRASH OUT
Fights for the carrot of Olympic qualification ruled Sunday night. China lost a blockbuster game 86-73 to Nigeria in qualification round of Group M, seeing Iran progress into 2020 Tokyo Olympics after it thrashed the Philippines 95-75 in Group N in 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Before the clash, China and Nigeria each had won two games, which made them in pole position for direct Olympics entry in their respective regions of Asia and Africa.
Fang Shuo pocketed five straight points for China after tipoff. The 29-year-old scored 11 points in the first quarter to give China a 21-19 lead, but Nigerians’ solid defense in the second period forced China into fouls and turnovers. The hosts found themselves trailing 35-31 as the first half ended.
Yi Jianlian scored a straight five points to cut the deficit to only one for China, but Nigeria’s Ekpe Udoh answered with 11 points through jump-shots and layups.
Nigeria led 60-51 into the fourth quarter, which started with Zhou Qi’s fifth personal foul.
Yi Jianlian stood out again to close the gap to only three at 62-59 with seven minutes to go. Fang Shuo and Abudushalamu even shot two consecutive three pointers in the last three minutes.
But those morale boosters came so late that nothing could stop Nigeria to kill the game.
Yi Jianlian put up a game-high 27 points, followed by 19 points from Fang Shuo and Negeria’s Josh Okogie each. Yi and Fang were the only two Chinese players that scored over ten points.
The victory over China ensured Nigeria a berth in Tokyo by the higher game points difference of all games despite its African rival Tunisia edged out Angola 86-84 in a Group N thriller.
Mohamed Hadidane from Tunisia made only one shot during the whole game and saved his team by this 3-pointer which gave Tunisia an 86-82 lead six seconds before the final whistle. Gerson Domingos’s floating jump shot made at the buzzer couldn’t help Angola rewrite the result.
Tunisia entered the second quarter with an 11-point lead and extend it to 52-37 before the interval. Makram Ben Romdhane’s two 3-pointers help to engine a 10-2 spurt. The team’s second scorer only missed one shot from his five attempts from downtown.
Angola stormed a 10-0 run right after the second half kicked off and even claimed its first lead of the game 72-71 with seven minutes to go in the last quarter.
Tunisia regained the lead and held on the rest of the way, but a 2-point margin wasn’t enough to qualify for the Olympics.
Iran’s overwhelming victory over the Philippines wasn’t enough either to rise above Angola in Group N, but is was more than enough to book a spot in Tokyo after China lost to Nigeria by 13 points.
The Iranians dictated the pace from the first quarter right to the end. They built a 14-point lead at halftime and led by as many as 25 by the end of the third quarter. Hamed Haddadi led Iran with game highs in points (19) and rebounds (7). Four other Iranian players score double digits.
Second round of Group Phase featured battles to top groups. Serbia swallowed its first defeat in the tournament as Spain slowed it down with tough defense in an 81-69 win in Group J, while Argentina secured its first place in Group I after trouncing Poland 91-65.
– Xinhua
Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
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Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
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Basketball
FIBA names Nigeria’s Agada among those who starred the most on the last day of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers
The 16 teams that will be competing at this year’s FIBA AfroBasket from 12-24 August have been confirmed, with some teams securing their places on the final day of qualifying.
A quintet of individuals put in stellar performances to send their teams to this year’s African championship in style.
Teams have 169 days to prepare for the 2025 edition of the AfroBasket set to be hosted by former champions Angola, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th title.
FIBA- Africa looked at the matches and the players and featured nine players who were the stars of the final day on Sunday.
Here is FIBA’s analysis: The return of the Tokyo Olympian has been a blessing for Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Nigeria.
For the second game in a row, Agada was a thorn in their side’s side, scoring 23 points in a convincing 77-62 win over 2021 AfroBasket semifinalists Cape Verde.
The 30-year-old played just over 30 minutes and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double while adding six assists and five steals for an efficiency rating of 29.
Nigeria entered the competition after an 0-3 start, but his disruptive presence on the floor helped them to a 3-0 run to qualify, averaging 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The other players highlighted are: Ousmane Drame of Guinea, Karim Maneof Senegal, Childe Dundao of Angola, Siriman Kanoute of Mali, as well as Ntore Habimana (Rwanda) Aliou Fadiala Diarra (Mali) Allan Dokossi (Central African Republic)and Nisre Zouzoua (Cote d’Ivoire)
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The league title will be icing on Soname’s birthday cake on Sunday
As major global sporting events beckon, Morocco’s monarch launches the Kenitra-Marrakech High-Speed rail project
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