Junior D’Tigress surge in FIBA rankings

Nigeria’s Junior D’Tigress have recorded a significant rise in the latest FIBA World Ranking Girls, climbing nine places to 26th and emerging as one of the biggest movers in the newly released standings published on Thursday, The PUNCH reports.

The update places Nigeria among the top climbers globally, ranking as the fourth biggest mover overall and the highest-ranked nation to make such a leap within the top 30.

The Junior D’Tigress now sit third in Africa with 469.5 points, behind Mali, who are 16th, and Egypt, who climbed four places to 21st.

At the summit, there was no change as the United States retained top spot with 787.3 points, ahead of Spain and Canada.

The Americans consolidated their lead following another dominant showing at the FIBA U-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Czechia, where they won a fourth consecutive title.

Spain remained second after strong podium finishes across multiple youth tournaments, while Canada held on to third following a semi-final appearance at the U-19 World Cup.

Australia moved up one place to fourth after reaching the U-19 final, while France slipped to fifth. Elsewhere, Slovenia, Italy, Serbia and Poland all made notable gains inside the top 15, in a reshuffle driven largely by results at recent youth continental and world competitions.

Nigeria’s rise comes on the back of their showing at the FIBA U-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Czechia, where the Juliana Akhere-led side finished 12th after securing a morale-boosting classification win over Argentina before falling narrowly to Korea in an 85–79 defeat, a game in which captain Wandoo Hembam led the scoring with 19 points.

Nora Ezike and Haminatu Ayodeji also impressed in the tournament, highlighting the growing depth within the squad.

FIBA’s ranking system for youth teams takes into account performances across major international competitions over a defined cycle, and Nigeria’s upward movement signals renewed competitiveness at junior level.