Godwin Olofua and Zainab Momoh have emerged the champions of the single event of the First Governors South-West Badminton Championship, which ended at the Rowe Park, Yaba in Lagos at the weekend.
Olofua, who represented Lagos State in the men singles event, defeated Haheeb Bello of Oyo State 2-1 in a breath-taking encounter, which saw the crowd asking for more. , Godwin took the first set 21-18, before the resilient Bello staged an impressive fight-back to win the second set 11-21 to make it 1-1 at major scores. The final and third round was tough and filled with drama, but Lagos’ Olofua stayed strong to win 21-16 and take home the N150, 000 cash prize.
The same scenario played out in the women’s final. The entertaining tie between Zainab Momoh of Oyo State and Ogun’s Atolagbe Tosin Davis, was decided with an intense third
game which Momoh won 21-17. She had earlier won the first set 21-11 before Atolagbe won the second set 17-21 to peg back the champion.
However, Momoh won the last set despite the strong resistance put up by her opponent as she smiled home with the N150, 000 cash prize.
Chairman of the Lagos State Badminton Association (LSBA), Frank Orbih commended the players for putting up a good performance and expressed confidence that the competition had come to stay. “This is the first edition of this championship and it was approved by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who was not happy that we could not hold the Lagos Classics, which brings together the best players in the world.
“We (LSBA) are happy that this championship took place, else we wouldn’t have staged any
competition this year. Surely, the classics will be back next year. I commend all the winners and I hope they will stay focused and fit for next year,” Orbih added.