Afrobasket 2021: Sports Minister celebrates D'Tigress' final berth

Youth and Sports Development Minister Sunday Dare has congratulated Nigeria's senior women basketball team, D'Tigress for qualifying for the final of the 2021 Afrobasket women championship in  Cameroon.

D'Tigress defeated their Senegalese opponents 73-63 in Friday night's semifinals to book a place in their third consecutive finals.

The Youth and Sports Minister commended the team for their superlative performance in the tournament and praised them for doing the nation proud.

The Minister urged the team to crown what has been a remarkable tournament with  victory in the final so that their status as the 'Queens of the   Court' on the African continent  can be confirmed.

The defending champions will face Mali in the final after the Malians defeated the hosts  Cameroon 52-51 in the other semi final game.

Volleyball: Nigeria breaks 16 years semi-final jinx at 2021 African Nations Cup

Nigeria women's senior volleyball team progresses to the semi-final of the ongoing 2021 African Seniors Nations Championship in Rwanda on Friday.

The development is coming on the heels of the decision taken by African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) to disqualify hosts Rwanda from the championship, having confirmed they fielded an ineligible players following an appeal by Nigeria and two others.

At it stands, Nigeria move to the top of Pool A with 6 points and will face Morocco in her last group match on Saturday, September 18.

Before the match between Senegal and Rwanda on Thursday, the Senegalese team wrote a protest letter to African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) control committee on the foreigners been used illegally by Rwanda team.

Afterwards, Morocco and Nigeria joined in with their own petitions to the Local Organising Committee on the ineligible players fielded by Rwanda, which led to the latest verdict made by the organizers. 

Before the verdict, the Nigeria women's senior team had been denied access to their training ground on Friday while the referee were stopped from officiating matches.

With this development,  Nigeria has finally broken it's semi-final jinx, having reached the stage for the first time since 2005 when the championship was last held in Nigeria.