First Bank to face MFM in W’African women basketball tourney final

The Nigerian duo of First Bank basketball club and MFM basketball club will slug it out in the final of the ongoing Crown Elite Women Basketball championship.

The teams confirmed their places in the final after emphatic victories in their respective semifinal games at the indoor sports hall of the National Stadium in Lagos on Friday.

First Bank registered a 25-point triumph over Bayelsa Strong in the first semifinal to secure a 62-37 win while MFM Ladies narrowly pipped Kada queens 49-42 in the second game.

The competition, which tipped off on Sunday, featured eight teams, including Reformers basketball club of Ghana and Togo’s Etoile Filante basketball club.

The event was also accompanied by a three-day women’s empowerment expo, presented in conjunction with Ayo Charity Foundation. Several women, particularly basketball players, were trained in skills that can make them productive after their careers.

Hanson Oguche, president of Crown Elite sports, described the intensity of the competition as “impressive”.

“I’m very impressed with the level of competition that we’ve witnessed so far. The ladies are in high spirits and competitive,” he said.

“As you know that the female players have not been engaged with the league for a long time but for them to come out here and show such substance is impressive.”

On his part, Louis Edem, the director of strategic planning and entertainment, emphasised the importance of the women empowerment expo.

Edem said it has yielded a “lot of positive responses.”

“The women empowerment expo was set up so that these girls can be aware of how short their career can be and prepare them for life after that. You can only play basketball for so long. The most important part is what you’ll do after you are done playing basketball,” he said.

“We had people from diverse walks of life come and speak to them. And I’ve had a lot of positive responses.”

The final of the competition starts at 12 pm on Saturday after a celebrity all-star game and an exhibition match between Mo Heat and Comet basketball club.