D’Tigress open World Cup campaign with defeat to South Korea
The senior female national team of Nigeria, D’Tigress suffered an opening game defeat to South Korea at the ongoing 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup taking place in Berlin, Germany.
D’Tigress tutored by coach Rena Wakama were gunned down by their South Korean opponents by 99-81 points on Friday in a keenly contested encounter.
The reigning African champions struggled heavily in the encounter played at the Uber Arena in Berlin, after displaying a tight performance in the opening stages.
D’Tigress lost to the South Koreans by 26-22 in the first quarter of the game before rallying to defeat their opponents 22-23 in the second quarter with the first half ending 48-45 in favour of the Asians.
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However, the Nigerian team could not cope with the technicality of the South Koreans losing 20-17 in the third quarter and further compounding their lax performance with a 31-19 loss in the fourth quarter.
The game eventually ended in a 99-81 in favour of the South Koreans spearheaded by Jiyun Park, who led all scorers with 27 points alongside 6 steals to give her team their first victory at the basketball competition.
D’Tigress will now regroup and find a way to quickly fix their defensive lapses and the team’s ability to take care of the ball during games ahead of their next group encounters against Hungary on September 5 and France on September 7.
