By Aliyu DANLADI
Nigeria Baseball and Softball Association (NBSA) says the national baseball team is in top form for the Tokyo 2020 Africa pre-qualifiers holding in Ghana this weekend.
TBI Africa said the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria will compete in Zone West of the qualifiers against Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Tunisia and host Ghana from March 22 to March 24.
Joseph Ogunseye, the Team Manager at a news conference in Lagos, said that the technical crew have selected the best players to represent the country.
Ogunseye said that the players were camped for over two weeks in Ilorin to sharpen their competitive edge for the task ahead.
“All is set for the team, a total of 30 players was invited to camp and it was finally trimmed to 20 players that will fly the country’s flag.
“The technical crew have done their part and hopefully we believe the players will make the country proud,” he said.
Also, Adeola Omotosho, secretary of the NBSA Technical Commission, said that two countries are expected to qualify from Zone West.
Adeola added that the other two zones are Zone East, which comprises of Kenya,Tanzania and Uganda and Zone South is made-up of Lesotho, Zimbabwe and the hosts South Africa.
“Qualifier is the first hurdle for all the 11 countries that have been zoned into three; two countries will qualify from Zone West.
“One country will qualify from the East Zone and South Zone, respectively, to participate in the four teams finals that would hold in South Africa in May,” he said.
The secretary commended individuals that have supported the team so far, urging the government and corporate bodies to complement their efforts.
Meanwhile, Sunday Twaki, Captain of the team, said the team would do everything possible to qualify for the second stage of the qualification in South Africa, commending NBSA for their efforts.
NAN reports that the team is set to depart for Ghana on Tuesday.
