Pulse List 2018: Top 5 Nigerian teams

Here is the Pulse list of the Top 5 Nigerian teams of the year in 2018.

Athletes from individual sports get recognition if they do well, while pressure piles on teams to produce on the same level.

Several Nigerian teams brought glory and limelight to the country in 2018 cross various local and international sporting events.

Here is a list of 5 national team that excelled in their various spells in 2018.

1. Super Eagles

The Super Eagles appearance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia a was one of the major highlights of Nigeria’s sports this year.

 

The Super Eagles qualified for the world cup in 2017 and football loving Nigerians tipped the team to be the first African side to advance to the semifinal.

The Super Eagles failed to progress beyond the group stage but brought so much intensity and passion to Nigerians.

Ahmed Musa’s two goals against Iceland was one of the most celebrated sporting moments in the year.

Nigeria’s jersey to the world stage also grabbed a lot of headlines and was voted the best among the 32 countries participating at the event.

 

After the world cup, the Super Eagles also qualified for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with one game to spare returning to the continental tournament for the first time since 2013.

Under Gernot Rohr, the Super Eagles have become the darling of Nigerians and are rightly included in the team of the year.

2.  Nigerian Ice blazers

Rewind to 2017, very few Nigerians knew that of the winter Olympics, a very few percentage of the aforementioned had an idea of what Bobsled and Skeleton sports meant.

Thanks to Ngozi Onwumere, Akuoma Omeoga, Seun Adigun and Simi Adeagbo Nigeria’s flag was paraded at the winter Olympics for the first time.

The Bobsled crew finished with a time of 3:29:60 and were 19th overall in the standings of the 20 countries that participated.

 

Simi finished 20th bottom of all the participants with a time of 3:36:78 in her debut appearance.

Both the Bobsled team and the Skeleton athlete have contributed positively in pushing the sport development in Nigeria

Their achievement of bringing Nigeria to the spotlight in an event not many thoughts was possible earns them an inclusion in the Team of the Year.

3. Men’s Table Tennis team

2018 was an impressive year for Nigeria’s Men’s Table Tennis Team as they excelled in several competitions.

 

The team led by star player Aruna Quadri had a good appearance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

They shocked the world by beating the English team in the semi final event of the tournament.

The team of Quadri, Segun Toriola, Bode Abiodun and Olajide Omotayo eventually lost to India in the final and picked up the silver medal for their efforts.

They improved on their performance at the Commonwealth Games when they participated at the 2018 ITTF Africa Cup.

The team led by Quadri beat rivals from Egypt in four sets to win the Gold medal at the event.

 

The Nigeria Table Tennis team also qualified to partake at the 2019 ITTF World Team Cup which will hold in Tokyo from November, 6 to 10.

Table Tennis is a sport on the rise and the men’s team are rightly included in the Team of the Year for their performances in 2018.

4. D’Tigress

When Nigeria’s women basketball team were drawn alongside Turkey, Argentina, and Australia on the world stage many expected them to participate in the group phase and return swiftly back home.

 

D’Tigress, however, had other plans in mind, even after losing their opening game to eventual finalist Australia they laid a marker for the world to watch out for.

Before the tournament in Tenerife Spain, no African team had won a single game at the world championship, but D’Tigress won three games before the end of the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup.

Led by Evelyn Akhator, D’Tigress exceeded every expectation to emerge, runners-up, as they won their remaining two games.

 

They advanced to the last eight and were eventually beaten by eventual champions United States.

For their achievements on the world stage, they rose from 34th to 15th in the last rankings which is the highest achieved by an African side.

5. Super Falcons

The Super Falcons of Nigeria retained their continental title at the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON).

 

The Super Falcons participated at the 2018 WAFU Women’s Cup and finished with a bronze medal for their efforts with home-based players.

Several Nigerian expressed disappointment about the teams outing as the women’s team are used to winning on the continent.

They started on AWCON 2018 campaign with a loss against the Bayana Bayana of South Africa.

 

The team led by Thomas Dennerby however recovered with wins against Zambia and Equatorial Guinea to progress to the final.

The Super Falcons reclaimed their continental crown with a victory over South Africa in the final.