Nigerian national men basketball team, D’Tigers, have moved up 10 places in the latest FIBA Basketball ranking released on Thursday, September 19, 2019 by Nike.
D’Tigers also maintained their top spot in Africa, while Angola placed second. Tunisia holds the third spot in Africa, and Senegal occupies the fourth position. Prior to the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, D’Tigers were ranked 33rd in the world but a string of decent performances during the global tournament saw the West African side leapfrog 10 steps and move up to 23 in the global ranking.
The latest update will equally serve as the basis for determining the last eight teams that will secure places in the FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournaments in 2020. In addition to the 16 countries that have already earned their berths through the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China, the top two ranked countries from each region in the latest ranking will form part of the 24 teams that will participate in the Olympic Qualification Tournament field. The next edition of the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, will be updated after the FIBA Continental Cup Qualifiers in February.
Part of the considerations for the global basketball ranking include rating points in high profile FIBA tournaments and qualifiers in the course of eight years. It will be recalled that D’Tigers booked their automatic ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the recently concluded FIBA World Cup after beating their South Korean opponents in their last group game, and going further to beat Cote d’Ivoire 83-66, and China 86-73, to finish top of Group M in the classification games.
Source:
Complete Sports
Featured Image Source: Sportinglife NG
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