By Samuel Adeola
Nigeria’s Junior D’Tigress have climbed nine places to 26th in the latest FIBA World Ranking for Girls, released on Thursday.
The rise makes Nigeria the fourth biggest mover globally and the highest-ranked team to record such progress within the top 30.
The team now sit third in Africa with 469.5 points, behind Mali (16th), and Egypt, who moved up four places to 21st.
The improvement follows Nigeria’s campaign at the FIBA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Czechia, where the Juliana Akhere-led side finished 12th. They recorded a morale-boosting victory over Argentina and narrowly lost 85-79 to Korea, with captain Wandoo Hembam scoring 19 points. Nora Ezike and Haminatu Ayodeji also impressed at the tournament.
At the top of the rankings, the United States remain number one with 787.3 points after winning a fourth consecutive U-19 Women’s World Cup title.
Spain and Canada retained second and third places respectively, while Australia climbed to fourth and France slipped to fifth.
FIBA’s youth rankings are determined by performances at major international competitions, with Nigeria’s latest rise reflecting growing competitiveness at junior level.
