Badminton
Enugu set agog with Bet9ja South East Badminton Championship
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Anambra State was the dominant force as the south eastern teams gathered for badminton contest. Team Anambra topped, winning a total of 10 medals comprising of three gold, two silver and five bronze.
They were followed by the host state, Enugu who had two gold, five silver and three bronze medals. Abia State came third with two gold a silver and two bronze medals.
None of the teams went back blank as all featured on the medals table. Ebonyi placed fourth with two gold and seven bronze medals while Imo had a gold and two silver and two bronze medals.
The excitement on the players was palpable. Most were having competitive outing for the first time. Never before had a badminton contest held for the five-state region.
Great thanks for the initiative of the leading sports betting firm, Bet9ja. So for the first time ever, players of the five eastern states of Nigeria gathered for a badminton tournament.
For three days, the championship featured contests among senior and under 20 male and female players as well as among veterans.
Held at the indoor sports hall of Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, the project was the brain child of Obiageli Edoga Solaja, the South East representative on the board of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN).
She is also the Badminton Confederation of Africa’s winner of the African Women in Badminton Award for 2019 and Nigeria’s first badminton player at the Olympic Games.
She remarked that apart from playing her role as the representative of the South East on the board of BFN, she felt obliged to give back to the zone that produced her and nurtured her to international stardom in badminton.
It was in Enugu that she was discovered when at 15, she represented the old Anambra State (now comprising Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi) at the National Sports Festival in Kaduna in 1977.
Her appetite to give back to the society had seen her teaming up with Community Sport and Educational Development (CSED) to organise a two-day grassroot badminton clinic at St Theresa’s College, Nsukka, Enugu State.
At the Bet9ja South East Badminton Championship which her South East Badminton Outreach organised, each participating state is featuring 12 players.
In both the senior and u-20 categories, there were contests in male and female singles and doubles as well as mixed doubles. The veterans featured in singles and doubles.
Cash prizes and trophies were given to the players from the winners to the eighth placed.
A total of 78 players who hitherto have not had opportunity of converging for competition featured in what turned to be their dress rehearsals for the National Sports Festival holding next month in Delta State.
“That’s one of the objectives”, remarked Obiageli Edoga Solaja, the convener of the championship. She thanked Bet9ja, the preferred sports betting firm in the South East, for their giving back to the society.
Solaja, thanked the federation’s president, Francis Orbih for his support alongside that of Dr. Emeka Ofora, a lawyer and Super Agent of Bet9ja in Enugu.
As the championship got to the finals, it was an all Anambra final match in the men’s singles as Jovita Aniekwe beat Emeka Uzukwu.
In the women’s singles, Imo State won what turned to be their only gold medal.
Queen Sunday beat home girl, Esther Chidolue to live up to her name, Queen and be declared the Queen of Badminton in the East.
Proving their mettle as the lead badminton state from the East, Anambra won the men’s doubles as the pair of Jovita Aniekwe and Emeka Uzukwu who contested the singles finals unite to beat another Anambra State pair of Chidiebere Onwe and Nzuba David.
Anambra were not done yet. The pair of Jovita Aniekwe and Bridget Adaa beat Enugu State’s Ifejika Godswill and Esther Chidolue to win the mixed doubles.
Badminton
Badminton chieftain, Orbih dreams of ‘born-again’ Lagos International Badminton Classic
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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
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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
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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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