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Prime-time Magbegor leads the Opals’ World Cup charge
🇦🇺 Australia /Sports

Prime-time Magbegor leads the Opals’ World Cup charge

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Ongoing story
  • Ezi Magbegor will anchor Australia at the Women’s Basketball World Cup after recovering from an Achilles injury and a broken nose.
  • The 27-year-old center has won Olympic bronze and World Cup medals, and Australia will rely heavily on her after several senior players withdrew.
  • The Opals open their campaign in Berlin seeking to match the team’s historic gold-medal success.

Ezi Magbegor has moved from promising teenager to the player Australia may need most at the Women’s Basketball World Cup. At 27, the Seattle Storm forward-center is now a defensive linchpin, a leader and one of the world’s elite rim protectors.

Her path into the tournament has not been straightforward. After entering the WNBA season as one of its most valuable Australian players, Magbegor lost much of the campaign to an Achilles injury and a broken nose. She returned to the court in late July wearing a protective mask, trading the high-fashion arena arrivals known as “tunnel fits” for an even more intimidating look.

You just realise injuries are a part of sport and it’s about how you reset your mind and bounce back and prepare for the next thing.

— Ezi MagbegorMagbegor described how she responded to the injuries that disrupted her WNBA season.

The injuries also forced her to reset. “You just realise injuries are a part of sport and it’s about how you reset your mind and bounce back and prepare for the next thing,” she told ABC Sport. She said the time away allowed her to work on her body and return in the best possible condition.

This year I really wanted to lean into my Nigerian culture and heritage, and my mum's been begging me to wear traditional clothing.

— Ezi MagbegorShe explained the cultural inspiration behind one of her arena arrival outfits.

Magbegor also used the season to celebrate her Nigerian heritage through her clothing. Her favorite outfit featured traditional material bought by her parents in Nigeria and sewn together by a friend in Melbourne. “It was really fun to be able to share that with her,” she said of her mother, who had encouraged her to wear traditional clothing.

Now she returns to the Opals at a critical moment. Australia won World Cup silver in 2018, bronze at home in Sydney in 2022 and Olympic bronze in Paris in 2024. But Tess Madgen, Lauren Jackson, Cayla George and Marianna Tolo are absent, while captain and point guard Sami Whitcomb has also been ruled out. With the team’s established core reduced, Magbegor’s fitness and form could shape how far the Opals go in Berlin.

It was really fun to be able to share that with her.

— Ezi MagbegorMagbegor discussed wearing traditional Nigerian clothing chosen with her mother.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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