Two Nigerian women
basketball club representatives, Air Warriors and MFM Queens of Lagos, have
qualified automatically for the 2019 FIBA Africa Club championship to be played
in December.
The pair are been
joined by Energie Club of Cotonou who also qualified for the final round
according to a statement from the FIBA Africa Zone 3 media department.
Air Warriors who made
their debut in the women’s league were crowned the 2019 Zenith Bank Women
Basketball League Champions after a hard earned 55-53 point victory against MFM
Queens in the final.
The Abuja-based side
became the first women’s club to win the league in its first year while also
setting an enviable record of being the first Savannah Conference side to win
the league which had been largely dominated by First Bank of Lagos with nine
titles.
MFM on their part
improved on their 2018 season when they finished fourth under coach Aderemi
Adewunmi to win their first-ever silver medal.
FIBA Africa will
decide the final host of the competition between Angola and Madagascar who have
both indicated interest to host the apex women’s club championship in Africa.
It means that no
Nigerian club side (men and women) will be participating in the FIBA Africa
zonal elimination series starting on October 28 in Cotonou, Benin
Republic with Nigeria already given an automatic slot to the 2020 NBA-FIBA
Africa organised Basketball League.