Badminton
Enugu set agog with Bet9ja South East Badminton Championship
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.
The Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) has continued its nationwide grassroots development drive with a two-day outreach training held in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
Organised in collaboration with the Adamawa State Sports Council, the State Ministry of Education, and the Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF), Adamawa chapter, the training took place on 24 and 25 September 2025 at the General Murtala Mohammed College hall.
A total of 20 Physical Education teachers and 80 secondary school students from the Yola area participated in the intensive programme, which aimed to introduce badminton to schools and promote the sport at the grassroots level.
The training was facilitated by a team of five coaches led by George Shitta, who also serves as the Director of Sports at the Taraba State Sports Commission. Participants were taken through the fundamentals of badminton, including grip techniques, footwork, serving, stroke execution, game strategy, and proper warm-up routines.
According to the organisers, the programme was part of the BFN’s ongoing partnership with the Community Sports and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative, which has supported similar “Shuttle Time” and “Outreach Badminton Training” sessions across the country over the past three years. These sessions are designed to help teachers and students learn the game together while fostering teamwork, discipline, and social development.
The trainees actively engaged with the coaches — asking questions, sharing experiences, and demonstrating newly acquired skills. At the end of the programme, each participating school received badminton kits, including rackets, shuttlecocks, and nets, to help sustain practice beyond the training.
The Director of the Adamawa State Sports Council, Mr. Daniel Ahmed, graced the event, while the lead facilitator, George Shitta, paid courtesy visits to key education stakeholders — Hajiya Aisha M. Umar, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, and Birsan Panuel, Executive Secretary of the Post Primary Schools Management Board (PPSMB).
Organisers described the initiative as a model of effective collaboration among sports authorities, education agencies, and development partners — a partnership they hope will continue to enhance both the academic and athletic growth of teachers, coaches, and students in Adamawa State.
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The curtain fell on the 8th Lagos International Badminton Classics at the Teslim Balogun Stadium on Saturday, with host nation Nigeria making the podium and the event earning praise as a model for sports tourism in Africa.
Though global heavyweights dominated the finals, Nigeria’s Obanisola and her partner gave the home crowd reason to cheer by clinching bronze in the Women’s Doubles, ensuring the green and white were represented on the podium.
Elsewhere, India’s S. Lele defended her Women’s Singles crown with a 21-15, 21-17 victory over compatriot Kashyap, while Russia’s neutral duo Alimov and Ogloblin sealed Men’s Doubles gold against UAE’s Ravikrishna and Rimdahoi.
Tournament organizers hailed the event as a resounding success. “The Lagos International Badminton Classics has once again proven that Nigeria is ready to host world-class sporting events,” said Francis Orbih, President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN). “We are building a brand that showcases Africa’s talent, hospitality, and passion for badminton.”
With $17,500 prize money shared among winners and athletes praising the hospitality of Lagos, the championship reaffirmed Nigeria’s growing profile as a hub for global sports. The 9th edition in 2026 promises an even bigger spectacle.
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Indonesia stamped their authority on the 8th Lagos International Badminton Classics, turning the Teslim Balogun Stadium into a stage of triumph as they swept multiple gold medals on the final day of action.
From the opening Mixed Doubles clash to the showpiece Men’s Singles final, the Southeast Asian powerhouse asserted its dominance.
The pair of Prasetyo and Munggaren set the tone by defeating India’s Ravat and Maneesha 21-15, 21-17, before P. Shujiwo powered past Japan’s M. Koga 21-15, 21-17 in a pulsating Men’s Singles final.
The Indonesians celebrate in style
The Women’s Doubles final confirmed Indonesia’s superiority, with Meida and Nastine dispatching UAE’s Quathun and Sreejithparol in just 25 minutes (21-18, 21-7), the shortest contest of the evening.
The highlight of the celebrations came as Indonesia’s national anthem echoed repeatedly through the Okoya Thomas Indoor Hall, with Ambassador Bambang Suharto personally presenting the Men’s Singles trophy to Shujiwo — a moment that underscored the national pride attached to the victories.
With three golds and several silver finishes, Indonesia emerged as the undisputed star nation of Africa’s premier badminton competition.
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