By William Madouk<\/p>\n
South Sudan government backed its elation and excitement as the Bright Stars shot up to defeated China 89-69 in Manila, Philippines.<\/p>\n
Just after the basketball team suffered a calamitous defeat against Puerto Rico with a 101-96 loss in overtime. They came back with rocket speed to smash China\u2019s Great Wall.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, extended heartfelt congratulations to the champ, Bright Stars, adding that their victory is a historic movement for the nascent country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 89 \u2013 69 win marks a historic movement for South Sudan as it secures it\u2019s first-ever win in the prestigious tournament,\u201d said Deng Dau, the acting minister of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n
According to the minister, the triumph is a statement of talent, determination and hard work of the Bright Stars team.<\/p>\n
Foreign affairs added that the outstanding performance by Debutants South Sudan brings immense pride to the people and enhances the country\u2019s image on the global stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the power of sports, South Sudan is gaining recognition and marking its mark internationally,\u201d Dau noted.<\/p>\n
Acting foreign affairs minister commended President Salva Kiir for providing a conducive atmosphere for youth to seize their potential, he also appreciated Vice President Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabor and other government delegations who accompanied the team to Asia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also express our gratitude to the president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation, Luol Deng and all those involved in the preparation and training of the team,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
He further appreciated the basketball fans who rallied behind the Bright Stars, \u201cThis win is a collective triumph, and we celebrate it together as a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Dau noted that sport is important in promoting unity, inspiring youth, and showcasing the nation\u2019s potential to the world.<\/p>\n
Just as the final whistle blew, all basketball fans watching the game live at the Nimra Talata basketball Court jumped to their feet with joy.<\/p>\n
The Hard-won game made many South Sudanese jubilant, while in the mode of celebration, many wished the Bright Stars good luck in their upcoming match against the unbeaten Serbia team.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan also came out in the open to congratulate Bright Stars, thanked both teams for the great match and good luck in their upcoming matches.<\/p>\n
Also, the Japanese Embassy in South Sudan congratulated the Bright Stars for beating China, adding that their Japanese basketball team also won a historic victory over Finland on August 27.<\/p>\n
\u201cHope our both teams will pave the way toward the second round!\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
The Bright Stars is expected to have a match against Serbia on Wednesday, August 30th, 2023.<\/p>\n
Ranked 62nd by FIBA, the South Sudanese basketball team still has a rough and tough journey ahead, they must defeat Serbia in an upcoming game to qualify for the next round of the competition.<\/p>\n
And if the Bright Stars fail to beat Serbia then China must beat Puerto Rico by 34 points or less, it\u2019s going to be a do-or-die game.<\/p>\n
In Group B, Serbia ranked 8th and Puerto Rico ranked 20th have already earned their victories but in a fierce battle Serbia beat the latter.<\/p>\n
Serbia leads Group B followed by Puerto Rico, and in third place is South Sudan trailed behind by China.<\/p>\n
China now stays at the bottom of Group B and is set to compete with their last opponent Puerto Rico in the group phase.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By William Madouk South Sudan government backed its elation and excitement as the Bright Stars shot up to defeated China 89-69 in Manila, Philippines. Just after the basketball team suffered a calamitous defeat against Puerto Rico with a 101-96 loss in overtime. They came back with rocket speed to smash[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Bright-stars.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17318,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17316\/revisions\/17318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}