Nigeria’s 2017 memorable sports events

BASKETBALL

Nigeria’s Women senior basketball team outshined their men counterpart in 2017 by winning 2017 Women’s AfroBasket title.

The Nigerian women defeated Senegal in the final in August to win the Women’s Basketball title at the tournament hosted by Mali. Courtesy of progressing to the Final, the D’Tigress also qualified for the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Also, Nigeria’s men made history after winning the first-ever edition of the FIBA 3x3 Africa Cup in Lome, Togo on November 3-5, 2017.

Nigeria absolutely dominated the men’s category. They didn’t just have a clean 5-0 record, they won every of their games before the 10-minute limit. The final against Cote d’Ivoire was no exception.

Azuoma Dike, who was later crowned the MVP (188PG-89), had a game-high 9 points in the final, including 2 shots from outside the arc and led Nigeria to a onesided 21-9 win.

Nigeria will also compete in the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup holding in Manila, Philippines from June 8-12, 2018 after being awarded a wild card by the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA).

TABLE TENNIS

Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri surmounted his continental rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar, in the final of the 2017 ITTF Africa Cup in Morocco.

In October, Quadri made another giant stride, winning the Polish Open Men’s Singles title.

BOXING

Nigerian-born British boxer Anthony Joshua defeated Wladimir Klitschko in the world heavyweight boxing during their clash in April 2017 in one of the most talked about boxing moments of 2017.

Joshua dispatched his opponent to take victory in an 11th-round stoppage after being knocked to the canvas by 41-year-old Klitschko.

The win not only announced Joshua on the world stage but became a household name in Nigeria the country of his parents.

BOBSLED

The Nigerian Bobsled Women Team qualify for 2018 Winter Olympics for the first time, as the country has never gotten any representative at the Winter Olympics.

The trio of Seun Adigun and brakemen Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga, took off the sports of bobsleigh also known as bobsled and began the journey towards making history as the first Nigerians to compete at the Winter Olympics.

Their dreams became a reality as the trio qualified for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang after completing completed races in Utah, Whistler and Calgary during the qualifiers.

This feat brought them mentions in some of the biggest media platforms around the world and landed them an appearance on prime US Talk Show, The Ellen Show.

WRESTLING

In August this year, Nigeria’s sensational wrestler Odunayo Adekuoroye placed Nigeria on the medals table for the first time after winning a silver medal at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships in Paris, France. It was the first time Nigeria was on the medals table. Adekuoroye narrowly lost to Haruna Okuno of Japan 4-5 in the final of the 55kg women’s freestyle.

Adekuoroye is ranked number 1 in Africa and won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in the U.S.