Facts have emerged why Nigeria’s representatives in the women’s category of the on-going World Schools Basketball Championships in Serbia, St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School, did not qualify for the Quarter-finals stage.

Nigeria was thrown into confusion as to why the highly-promising ladies from Bayelsa did not progress to the quarter-final stage of the competition despite winning two of their three group matches.

The situation was made worse when information was not forthcoming from the camp of Team Nigeria.

However, facts have now emerged that the Prosperity Girls did not scale through as a result of inferior points garnered relative to the other teams in the group.

After three games apiece, Bulgaria, Turkey and Nigeria all ended up winning two and losing one match each and tying at five points apiece. Chile were the whipping girls of group D as their ladies lost all their three group matches.

To determine what teams progressed and the team that will kiss the competition goodbye at that stage, the matter got down to brass tacks where points garnered from the three games were used to draw the line.

The same scenario played out at the USA ’94 World Cup where Nigeria, Bulgaria, Argentina and Greece were in group D. While Greece lost all its three matches, Nigeria, Bulgaria and Argentina, all won two matches and lost one each, giving all three teams 6 points apiece. Again all three scored six goals each but while Bulgaria and Argentina conceded three each, Nigeria conceded just two.

READ ALSO: World Schools Basketball Tourney: BDGS In; St. Jude’s Girls Out

At the end, with +4 goals difference, Nigeria topped the group, Bulgaria and Argentina had +3 goals difference each but Bulgaria secured the second place because, in spite of having exactly same points, same goals for, same goals against and same goals difference, Bulgaria defeated Argentina and triumphed over Argentina purely on head to head rule.

Fortunately, Argentina also qualified as one of the four best losers in the (then) 24 team format of the World Cup.

Much as the sameWorld Schools Basketball Tourney: BDGS In; St. Jude’s Girls Out
https://nigerdeltaconnect.com/world-schools-basketball-tourney-bdgs-in-st-judes-girls-out/ scenario played out at the ’94 World Cup in the USA and the 2022 World Schools Basketball Championship in Serbia, the situation in Serbia is somewhat different from what happened in 1994!

At the end of the three group matches at the World Schools Basketball Championships, Bulgaria had 174 points, conceded 143 with points average (the equivalent of goals difference in football) of 31; Turkey had 166 points, concede 130 and ended up having a points average of 36 while Nigeria had a points average of 35 after scoring 157 and conceding 122 points.

Ordinarily, one would have expected Turkey with 36 points average and Nigeria with 35 points average to progress but from what played out in Serbia, Bulgaria with a points average of 31 came tops and Turkey followed, leaving Nigeria in the cold.

What has played out is that in the event of a tie in basketball, points scored is given more precedence than points average (goal difference), which is applied in football.

Even with the least points average of 31, Bulgaria scored the highest points (174) and came tops while Turkey, with 166 points came second and Nigeria, with 157 points (but with the supposedly second best points average) was adjudged third.