Badminton
Francis Orbih’s Badminton Board Gets Winning Start
BY CHINWE EDOGA.
An unranked Nigeria’s Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori has won this year’s Men’s singles event of the Ivory Coast International Badminton Tournament which ended in Abidjan on Sunday.
He was the best among 65 players from 11 countries across the world.
The allure of Nigeria’s performance was that there were three Nigerians among the four on the podium for the Men’s singles title. Not just that it was almost a clean sweep by Nigeria in the Mixed Doubles Event.
The pair of Enejoh Abah and Peace Orji defeated another Nigerian pair of Gideon Babalola and Uchechukwu Ukeh 21-18; 21-18 thus making Nigeria to win gold and silver medals.
Another Nigerian pair of Jafar Salih Umar and Zainab Momoh won the bronze medal along with Ghana’s Emmanuel Yaw Donkor and Stella Kote Amasah.
In all, the Nigerian contingent won two gold, two silver and four bronze medals.
In the Men’s Singles title, Nigeria’s Opeyori beat Jordanian Bahaedeen Ahmad Alshannik 21-18; 21-16 in the keenly contested final duel to give the Francis Orbih’s board of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), a winning start.
When it was becoming a near impossibility for Nigeria to send a team, Francis Orbih, the BFN president-elect had to swing into action and successfully got sponsorship package from the Lagos State Government to send a 25-man Nigerian team to the tournament.
An elated Orbih told Sports Village Square that he could not wait to be sworn in before swinging into action as he had promised to raise the standard of badminton during his tenure.
He along with his board members and the boards of other sports federations will be sworn in next week Monday in Abuja.
“I am really grateful to Governor Ambode for his magnanimity in sponsoring the team despite a very short notice given to him.
“Little wonder, things are working in Lagos as an action man is at the helms.
“I am sure, he will be very glad that his efforts have not been in vain”, remarked Orbih.
He told the Sports Village Square, that he would not have allowed vacuum to occur by waiting to be sworn in before ensuring the attendance of a Nigerian team in an international tournament that will not only give them good exposure, but also help in the overall ranking of Nigerian players.
He concluded that it would have amounted to big disservice, if he had failed to facilitate the performance of the Nigerian team in Abidjan. The team will move to Benin Republic to begin another campaign for honours on Wednesday.
He was particularly elated at the success of Anuoluwapo Opeyori, a player he personally discovered as the chairman of Lagos State Badminton Association.
“Our participation in the West Africa Badminton Circuit was preceded by a three-week closed camp for the 27 Nigerian players made up of nine female and 18 male players.
“We can see what camping does to players, instead of merely calling them up for trips to tournaments’, said Orbih.
On his way to glory, Opeyori beat Ghana’s Abraham Ayittey 22-20; 21-19 before having to face a Nigerian, Habeeb Temitope Bello in the next round. He won 21-19; 21-16.
His most challenging game was against Nigeria’s Gideon Babalola, pointing out the great strength of the Nigerian team. It was perhaps, Opeyori’s toughest match. He lost the first game 15-21 and was leading the second 6-3 before Babalola scratched owing to injury.
He then moved on to dispatch Ghana’s Daniel Sam 27-25; 21-11 to move to the final.
Opeyori was not the only successful Nigerian at the tournament. The duo of Clement Krobakpo and Gideon Babalola are joint third place winners in the men’s singles event. In badminton, the two semi final losers are automatic third place winners.
In the women’s singles, Nigeria’s Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan, ranked 296 in the world, was a third place winner with Egypt’s Hadia Hosny who is number 87 in the world.
In women’s doubles, the Nigerian duo of Zainab Momoh and Peace Orji were final losers to India’s Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker. The score lines were 21-11; 21-14 in favour of the Indians. Nigeria however won the silver while another Nigerian pair of Patricia Apusugh and Amin Yop Christopher won the bronze medal.
Badminton
Badminton chieftain, Orbih dreams of ‘born-again’ Lagos International Badminton Classic
BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The Lagos International Badminton Classics may from the next edition step up to the next level with a reinvigorated government-private partnership initiative.
President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) Francis Orbih believes that the governments at all levels cannot fund sports alone and if sports need to develop the private sector also has a role to play in its development in the country.
Orbih made the call on Saturday while addressing newsmen during the closing ceremony of the 7th edition of the Lagos Badminton Classics which took place at the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall inside the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
“Nigeria players need more encouragement and support because you know it will be difficult for most of these players to travel out for this kind of championships.
“And that is why we try to make this event an annual event so that they can have that opportunity to play the game at this level” Orbih hinted.
“They need the exposure because without it, there is a limit to what you can do so we have to challenge them, and to whom much is given, much is expected, and it is the much we can give to them that determines the much we expect from them”.
“In giving this much, we need the private sector for sports to grow and develop because the government cannot do it alone” Orbih emphasized.
On the just concluded 7th edition of the tournament Orbih noted that the championship has lived up to his expectations even though the Federation can do better, and one practice which they have adopted is to surpass the performance of the previous edition while hosting a current edition.
He further added that Nigeria had a good outing as we reached some semifinals in some categories while the mixed doubles reached the finals.
“For the men’s singles, our number one player was edged out in the quarterfinal, and it was at this same level in last year’s edition that he was edged out”. “We thought he would have improved this year and reach the final but that was not possible but I am expecting that we will improve on his performance in the next edition” an optimistic Orbih added
Orbih did not fail to remind all that Opeyori’s rise to stardom in Nigeria and Africa as whole was a journey that started so many years ago and so much need to be done if the younger ones have to rise to his level in the future.
“A lot of people who see Opeyori today think he just got to this level over night”. “They do not know what he has gone through to become Africa’s number one. We as a federation need to go back to the age-grade tournament at the U12, U15 and U17 level so we can start preparing them with lots of exposure to attain his level”. “There is no magic and there is no short cut and if we need to get more players like Opeyori, we need to invest more at the age-grade level and that is it”.
He also did not fail to state that Opeyori started the Lagos Badminton Classics from its first edition in 2014 and it was his exposure over the years through the event and other championships that gave him the experience needed which made him qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
On India’s domination of the Lagos Badminton Classics, Orbih noted that India is a powerhouse as far as badminton is concerned and it is because this tournament has a lot of world ranking players that makes it good for Nigerian players to take part in it so that they can also acquire exposure too.
Badminton
It’s Indian delight at Lagos International Badminton Classic
BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The Indians are having a swell time at the Lagos International Badminton Classic.
Not only did an Indian player, Samarveer responsible for Nigeria’s Anuoluwapo Opeyori’s ouster at the quarter-finals, the Indians have won the mixed doubles beating a Nigerian pair.
They were delighted at the relative ease of their accomplishment.
The duo of Kanapuram Sathwik Reddy and Khadkekarr Vaishnavi expressed their shock on how easy it was for them to beat Nigeria’s duo of Shehu, Alhaji Aliyu and Ukeh, Uchechukwu Deborah in the finals of the mixed doubles on home ground.
The game which was played on court two of the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall on Saturday, saw the Indians record two straight wins against Nigeria to win 2-0 (21-12,21-14).
Speaking after the win, both players who were overjoyed about their wins expressed themselves.
“It’s my first time of playing in Nigeria” Reddy started “And am glad this game ended very well, we are happy to win and we never expected it would come this easy”
“When we reached the final and were going to play Nigeria we thought it was going to be very tough because of the home crowd, but it was not” he said.
Adding her voice a delighted Vaishnavi also appreciated the warm reception given by the host country in organizing the tournament.
“I am happy with the environment and reception here, the atmosphere is peaceful and the people are very nice, we feel very happy winning” she concluded.
The Indians who have dominated the finals of the doubles in previous editions edged Nigeria’s side to win the mixed doubles.
It will also be recalled that Nigeria’s duo of Shehu Alhaji Aliyu and Ukeh, Uchechukwu Deborah reached the finals of this edition without lifting their racket, as they walked over their French opponents who were ruled out due to arm injury.
Badminton
India Stops Nigeria From Reaching Final of Women’s Doubles
BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
Nigeria’s duo of Dorcas Ajoke and Ilori Aminat on Friday failed to reach the final of the women’s doubles of the Lagos Badminton Classic at the Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.
The duo suffered two straight defeats at the hands of India’s Singhi Simran and Selvan Kavipriya who defied the slim efforts made by the home fans to cheer the Nigerian sides to victory.
The game which was played on court 2 was however slightly disrupted by power supply barely five minutes of play but that did not stop the Asian side from getting the job done when power was restored.
In a later development, Nigeria’s duo of Shehu Alhaji Aliyu and Ukeh Uchechukwu Deborah also reached the final of the mixed doubles without lifting their rackets.
The duo benefited from a walk over which took them to the final after their French opponents of Maio Julien and Palermo Lea were ruled out due to arm injury.
The championship comes to a close this Saturday.
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