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
By Ugo Okeiyi, Enugu
The end-of-year Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational Tournament, tagged “Championing the Youth Through Sports, Education and Opportunity,” has taken off and will be concluded on Friday. The three-day event is taking place at the Indoor Sports Multipurpose Gymnasium, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.
The grassroots basketball competition is designed to serve as a platform for discovering and nurturing the next generation of Nigerian basketball talent.
A total of 14 teams — eight male and six female sides drawn from across the country — are competing for honours in what promises to be an exciting three-day basketball spectacle.
The tournament is powered by the Anthony Ozubuekwe Foundation, in collaboration with the Enugu State Ministry for Youth and Sports Development and the Enugu State Basketball Association.
Organisers say fans should expect high-quality action, with displays of skill, athleticism and tactical awareness from some of the most promising young players in the country.
According to the organisers, the initiative is structured to positively engage young people, steering them away from social vices and criminal tendencies, while using sports as a tool for education, personal development and opportunity creation.
They added that the tournament will also give coaches and team officials a valuable opportunity to assess the mental readiness, discipline and competitive mindset of the players, while providing a conducive environment for athletes to interact, bond and learn from one another.
The competition will be played in a round-robin format, with attractive prize money on offer. In the men’s category, the champions will receive ₦2 million and a giant trophy, while the runners-up will earn ₦1.5 million.
In the women’s category, the winning team will go home with ₦1.5 million, while the second-placed team will receive ₦750,000.
With its blend of competition, youth empowerment and community development, the Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational is expected to be one of the standout grassroots sports events of the year in Enugu State.
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Former head coach of Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, Alex Nwora, will join family, friends and well-wishers on December 28, 2025, to celebrate the 90th birthday of his father, Chief Charles Okwudi Nworah, in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The milestone celebration, according to Evelyn Childs, Public Relations Officer of the US-based Imo Women Elite Club (IWEC), will take place at the expansive Onitsha compound of the nonagenarian, who is highly regarded in his community.
Born on April 17, 1936, to Akudo and Agnes Nwora of the Okakwu family in Ogbedogwu Village, Onitsha, Chief Nworah’s early years reflected strong family values rooted in education and public service. He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School before moving on to Prince Commercial College, and later completed his secondary education at Baptist High School, Osogbo, in Osun State.
Chief Nworah began his career in the civil service at a young age with the Post and Telecommunications Service (P&T), where his father also served and retired as a senior manager. His professional journey continued seamlessly into Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) following the merger of P&T with the Nigerian External Telecommunications.
Alex Nwora, who led D’Tigers through notable periods of growth and international competition, is expected to play a central role in the celebration, which will bring together members of the extended Nwora family and the Onitsha community to honour the life and legacy of the elder statesman.
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has conferred national honours on all members of Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, in recognition of their historic victory at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship in Côte d’Ivoire.
Each member of the team was decorated with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) title at a special reception held on Monday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Representing the president at the event was Vice President Kashim Shettima, who announced a series of generous rewards for the champions.
In addition to the national honours, each player will receive $100,000, while each member of the technical crew will be given $50,000. The government also pledged a flat in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to every player and official on the squad.
The rewards follow D’Tigress’s emphatic 78-64 win over Mali in Sunday’s AfroBasket final, played at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan. The victory marked Nigeria’s fifth consecutive AfroBasket title, a feat unmatched in the tournament’s history. With the triumph, D’Tigress also secured an automatic berth to the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
President Tinubu, in his remarks delivered by Vice President Shettima, hailed the team’s resilience, determination, and consistency, describing their dominance on the continental stage as a symbol of national pride and inspiration to the youth.
Present at the reception were First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, Garba Maidoki, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Youths and Sports Development, and Kabiru Amadou, Chairman of the House Committee on Sports.
The honours and incentives underscore the government’s renewed commitment to recognising excellence in sports and motivating future champions.
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