D’Tigress Victoria Macaulay has expressed confidence in the ability of the Nigerian team to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games as they take on host Serbia, United State of America (USA) and Mozambique in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade from February 6 to 9.
The centre who made her debut for the Nigeria at the 2019 Afrobasket Women’s Championships in Dakar, said that there would be no easy game at the OQT.
“I am very excited to go to Serbia. I feel like we have a very good chance of playing well and making it to Tokyo for the Olympics,” she told FIBA web site.
The 1.94m (6ft 4in) star insisted that she is not scared and has no worries about the Belgrade challenge: “No pressure at all. I believe in my team and myself and we are very talented and strong. Though there may be some challenging games I think we’ll be alright. I don’t think there is going to be an easy ride. All the teams we will play against are very good. The more wins under our belt the better for us.”
Macaulay said they were going to take it one game at a time: “With 100 per cent focus, I believe we will go far. I pray for the best with both women and men’s team. We’re trying to put Nigeria back on the map.”
Macaulay, who joined the professional ranks seven years ago, expressed her readiness for the challenge. “I believe I’m mentally prepared for whatever that comes my way with the help of my teammates because we need to win as many games as we can and make it to Tokyo.”
Against the Americans, she charged her teammates to be more physical and dominant in the paint in Belgrade.
Nigeria will start its campaign on February 6th against Mozambique before playing hosts Serbia on February 8th and Olympic and World reigning champions USA in the final game on February 9th.
