In this report, Ripples Nigeria’s Ben Ugbana pens down five of the greatest sporting moments in Nigeria which shaped the year 2023 in the sector.
1. Victorious D’Tigress
From what started as a rough year for the Nigeria women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, it was a thing of wonder when the team against all odds emerged as African champions for the fourth time in a row in August.
Having started as a disjointed team and led by new coach Rena Wakama who was appointed barely a month to the 2023 FIBA Afrobasket, D’Tigress shocked the world of basketball as they went all the way to the final of the tournament and defeated Senegal to win the title again.
2. Aruna defeats Egyptian rivals again to stay champion
African table tennis continued to enjoy the mastery and charisma of Nigerian star, Quadri Aruna as he retained his continental title yet again in September.
Aruna successfully defended his ITTF Africa Senior Championships crown, defeating Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh in the men’s singles final in Tunisia. It was his third continental title, and he had won the second in Algeria with a nerve-wracking win against Omar Assar also from Egypt.
3. Enyimba crowned Nigeria’s champions for the 9th time
The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) saw the emergence of Enyimba of Aba as its new king after a highly contested Super 6 tourney in Lagos.
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The Peoples Elephants who are two-time champions of Africa clinched the league title for a record-extending ninth time as they beat Remo Stars by superior goal difference to win the tourney.
4. Amusan’s golden bounce back after World Champs no-show
In athletics, Nigeria had its share of troubles, as star hurdles runner, Oluwatobiloba Amusan was suspended by the World Athletics for three whereabout tests failures. She almost missed the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest but was eventually cleared last minute by the Integrity Unit of the federation.
Amusan however failed to retain her 100mH title at the Championship as she finished fifth in the final, with Jamaica’s Danielle Williams winning the gold medal. But Amusan bounced back about a month later to win a third successive Diamond League title in a time of 12.33secs.
5. Nigeria shines at CAF Awards
In addition to the glits glamour at the 2023 Confederation of African Football (CAF) awards gala held in December, Nigerians were very pleased to have clinched four major awards at the occasion.
Victor Osimhen broke the jinx as he emerged African men’s footballer of the year, becoming the first Nigerian man to do so since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999. Asisat Oshoala continued her reign as the best women’s footballer on the continent as she bagged the award for the sixth time.
That was not all! Nigeria’s women’s national team, the Super Falcons, were crowned the best women’s team on the continent after their heroics at the FIFA Women’s World Cup earlier in the year. The team’s goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie also won the best women’s goalkeeper award to crown the night for Nigeria at the event which held in Morocco.
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