D'Tigress will battle Belgium, the USA, and Senegal for a spot in the Paris Olympics.
The Nigeria national women's basketball team, D'Tigress, have been drawn in a tough group for the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifiers, which will be held in February 2024.
In the draw conducted in Hungary on Thursday, the Nigerian Ladies were drawn in Tournament 2, where they will face hosts, Belgium, the USA, and Senegal in their group,
The D'Tigress are the reigning African champions, having won the FIBA Women's AfroBasket championship for the fourth consecutive time in 2023.
However, they will be facing some of the best teams in the world at the Olympic Qualifiers.
https://twitter.com/DtigressNG/status/1710001165096620101
The USA are the defending Olympic champions and have won the last seven gold medals at the Olympics.
The Americans are also the top-ranked team in the world.
Belgium on their part are ranked sixth in the world and a global power in women's basketball.
Senegal, ranked 20th in the world, are the only team ranked lower than the D'Tigress who are 11th in the world and the highest-ranked team in Africa.
Despite the tough draw, the D'Tigress have a good chance of qualifying for what would be their third Olympic Games in Paris having previously made it to the Athens 2004 and London 2012 Games.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Under coach Rena Wakama, D'Tigress have shown great promise and potential to rub shoulders with the very best in the world.
At the last Afrobasket tournament, Wakama made history as the first female coach to win the competition since it began in 1966.
Other pairings
According to the FIBA Central Board's decision, the Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments will be held from 8-11 February 2024 in four cities, namely Antwerp, Belgium; Belem, Brazil; Sopron, Hungary; and a city to be confirmed in China.
In tournament 1, France are paired with China, New Zealand and the yet-to-be-decided qualifiers from the Americas.
In tournament 3, Brazil, Germany, Serbia and Australia will be battling it out for a spot at the Olympics.
Meanwhile, Spain, Hungary, Japan and the other qualifiers from the Americas region will hope to pick up one of the tickets from Tournament 4 to be staged in Hungary.
