By Joe Apu
Upe Atosu finnaly had her dream of wearing a gold medal come to reality with Nigeria’s D’ Tigress emerging AfroBasket Women 2017 champions after beating defending champions Senegal 65-48 points in the final.
For her, the gold medal has come after several attempts for her with the national women’s team.
“I don’t want to be woken up from this frenzy that came with our victory over Senegal. I have been with the national team and have tried severally until now. I’m grateful to God for making this gold possible.”
Speaking on the semifinal in which Nigeria beat Mali 48-47, the First Bank Elephant girl and winner of the Zenith Bank sponsored league described the game as a tensed one.
“We promised to return with the title and God helped us to achieve our target. Winning eight games as well as winning the title is not an easy achievement,” she said.
“The semifinal match against Mali really tested the strength of our team. It was a tensed game but the victory came at the end. We were afraid they could have beaten us – not because they were better than us, but because they were the hosts and they had the entire support of their fans.
“The shouts from the fans were intimidating but we held on to our lead. Since we were leading in the game from the start, it was left for us to handle the pressure and hold on.”