The Nation Newspaper

Tag: championships

  • Nigeria can’t afford to miss World Championships, taekwondist pleads

    2015 African Games gold medallist, Uzoamaka Otuadinma has pleaded with the Ministry of Youth and Sports not to allow Team Nigeria miss the forthcoming 2017 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) World Championships holding in Muju, Korea.

    Otuadinma, who has been with the team in the Abuja camp for the past two weeks told NationSport yesterday that being her maiden World Championships, she would want to use opportunity to prove some points following the unfortunate loss during the Rio Olympics qualifiers in Morocco last year.

    “We have not competed internationally after the Rio Olympic Games qualifiers held in Morocco last year and this is another opportunity for us to prove ourselves and garner points for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Competing in a tournament like this would surely help us to raise our game and I am confident that we can achieve in the tournament,” she said.

    She, however, pleaded with the sports ministry not to allow their dream die, as they are eager to take to the court in Korea.

    Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, Taiwo Oriss is making frantic efforts to ensure that the athletes are issued visas by the Korean Embassy in Abuja.

  • 2016 ITF/CAT AFRICAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: South Africa embassy denies Nigerian players visas

    2016 ITF/CAT AFRICAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: South Africa embassy denies Nigerian players visas

    Five out of six Team Nigeria players were on Friday denied visas by the South African embassy in Abuja.

    A seven-man Team Nigeria comprising six players and a coach were seeking for visa to participate in the forthcoming ITF/CAT African Junior Championship holding from March 9-18 in Pretoria, South Africa.

    But only one player, Marylove Edwards and coach Mohammed Ubale were granted visa while the other five players were rejected.

    Those that were denied visas are Angel McLeod, Christopher Itodo, Christopher Bulus, Gabriel Friday and Michael Osewa.

    The team is scheduled to travel today but the latest development is a huge setback for its quest to excel at the tournament.

    National Junior Tennis Head coach, Mohammed Ubale expressed frustration at the development saying it’s a big blow to the country’s preparation.

    “The South African Embassy took us by surprise this morning (Friday) by denying five out of the six players that are going for the AJC.

    “We have submitted our passports since ten days ago and they keep requesting for one thing or the other which we presented to them before they gave us appointment to come and collect it today (Friday) which was why we fixed our departure for Saturday (today) because our plan was to travel earlier,” Ubale, who alongside Marylove Edwards were the only two of the seven-man contingent that were granted visas for the tournament billed for the ITF High Performance Centre, Pretoria, said.

    He added: “What annoyed me mostly is the fact that why would you grant visas to just two of us when we are all covered by one letter which the organisers sent to them in the course of seeking clarifications.”

    NTF president, Engr Sani Ndanusa as at Friday afternoon was making efforts to make sure that the whole team were eventually granted visas as he made several calls to the International Tennis Federation headquarters in London as well as the Confederation of African Tennis in Tunis for intervention.

    “It’s very frustrating because virtually all the countries were scheduled to arrive the venue on Saturday but from what is on ground the earliest we can be in South Africa is Monday. The most annoying part of it is that all the players have travelled several times to various parts of the continent and even beyond for tournaments,” he said.

  • Para-powerlifting federation holds championships in April

    The Nigeria Para-Powerlifting Federation has  concluded arrangement to stage an Open National Championships to discover new athletes and enhance the skills of the old ones.

    The federation’s Technical Director told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos that the championships would hold from April 19 to 24 in Benin, Edo State.

    Ekeoma said that no fewer than 23 states and clubs would participate in the championships.

    “We want to take advantage of the upcoming championships to discover and nurture new talents that will take over from the ageing athletes. The championships will also help us  evaluate some of our athletes that will represent the country at the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil. The presence of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) at the event will ensure that participants are drug free,” he said.

    He disclosed that Bilikisu Musa, a former weightlifter who won medals for the country at various international competitions, was sponsoring the event in collaboration with the federation.

    Ekeoma praised the former athlete for supporting Para-powerlifting development at the grassroots.

    Meanwhile, Musa the co-sponsor told NAN on telephone that it was part of her contribution to encourage the physically challenged athletes to be engaged in sports.

  • Lagos Boxing Championships: Akintayo ,Arowolo progress to finals

     

    Ikorodu enjoyed a rare afternoon of boxing as it hosted the semi finals of the Lagos Boxing Championship for the first time.

    The event saw Star Boxing Club’s Femi Akintayo and Arowolo Dele of Always Boxing Club progressing to the finals.

    Akintayo, a middleweight won the bout of the day award against Babatunde Jato, seeing off the Ashimota Boxing Club pugilist by a technical knockout in the second round at the D’Jos Events centre despite his opponent taking the first round.

    ‘I am happy to defeat Babatunde to progress to the finals. He is a very tough fighter and defeating him by a knockout shows how much progress I have made as an athlete.’

    ‘After the first round I knew I had to come out because he was going to come at me. I just gave it all I had and I was able to dish out a flurry of punches which the referee felt was too much for him to handle and he stopped the fight.’

    ‘It was nice for my family to be able to watch me and winning the boxer of the day award is an added incentive for me to be a much better boxer.’

    His opponent, Jato was visibly upset and promises to learn from his defeat

    “I am disappointed, I know I could beat him, I was the better boxer in the first round,” he said.

    “He was different in the second round, very fast. I will learn from it.”

    Akintayo is set to fight Arowolo Dele, whose fight against Shina John was a walkover. John had failed his mandated medicals earlier in the day.

  • Lagos Boxing Championships goes to Ikorodu

    Lagos Boxing Championships goes to Ikorodu

    On Saturday,  September 26, Ikorodu will see its first set of punches, jabs, hooks and maybe  some knock outs, as the rustic town of an estimated 700,000 population is set to host its first ever Lagos Boxing Championship.

    The Lagos Amateur Boxing Association (LABA) with the support of Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame is holding the third semifinals of the Lagos Boxing Championships,  the nation’s most prestigious amateur boxing tournament at D’ Jos hotels, Ijede, Ikorodu.

    Speaking to SportingLife, the chairman of LABA, Monsuru Laisu said as part of its vision to develop the sport in Lagos, the association will be taking the sport to all corners of the state.

    “The stakeholders of boxing in Lagos realised that for the game to gain more popularity it has to take the tournament to other parts of the state.”

    “The boxing programme has been shuttled between Rowe Park in Yaba and Telsim Balogun stadium over the years and we felt it is high time we change location.

    “Ikorodu is the perfect place to start our Boxing-Show-On-The-Road initiative because there is a rich heritage of boxing there.

    “The current WBC Continental Americas Cruiser-weight champion, Olanrewaju Durodola is a local boy and he started boxing from the streets of Ikorodu”

    He also spoke of plans to take the monthly Saturday boxing show to populated areas of the state to maximise their crowd potentials.

    “We are looking at Oshodi or Agege for the next on the road project that will come at the end of October.

    “Coincidentally, it would be the finals of the championships and we are looking at taking advantage of the high population densities of those areas because some of the finalists are locals and can pull a lot of fans for the championships.”

  • Egypt’s Alhy dominates ITTF African Clubs Championships

    Egypt’s Alhy dominates ITTF African Clubs Championships

    Twice Ahly Club of Egypt missed out from clinching the title and this year, they made it double at the ITTF African Clubs Championships held in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

    From Omar Assar to El-Sayed, the joy of winning the men’s title ahead of defending champion was radiating in their faces as they hugged themselves as El-Sayed Lashin defeated Saheed Idowu of Club Avenir of Congo Brazzaville 15-13, 11-8, 11-6 for the North African to emerge as new winner of the tournament, winning 3-0.

    Earlier, the Ahly female team has retained their title in an entertaining and explosive final against the ladies from Congo Brazzaville. Despite fierce opposition from the Congolese Chinese imports – Han Xing and Yuheng Li, the Egypt’s trio of Dina Meshref, Nadeen El-Dawlatly and Yousra Helmy played their heart out to triumph at 3-1. The night surely belonged to Egypt.

    An elated El-Sayed Lashin described the victory as vital, saying, “Prior to the final, Omar Assar, Mohammed El-Beiali and myself had high fever and our body temperatures were so high that we never expect that we could play with the way we played today. Also twice the trophy has eluded as we were denied by Zamalek and Club Avenir but this year, we were determined and we got it. This is very sweet especially against a team that had denied us before,” Lashin said.

    For Nadeen El-Dawlatly, clinching the title this year was a bit hard compared to the last edition. “I think it was bit hard this year especially playing two competitions back-to-back. We have prepared well for this championship and this reflected in our performance and we are happy that we are able to hold on to the title this year,” she said.

    El-Dawlatly, who was returning from months of lay-off due to injury added: “I think playing more matches in this competition has helped my confidence and this I can say I have achieved in Cameroon ahead of the All Africa Games. We will continue to work hard hoping that we can raise our game more for Brazzaville,” he said.

    The Nigeria-born Congolese star Onyinyechi Nwachukwu was however disappointed that she could not help her team. “I am so disappointed with my performance in this competition and I hope that I will get over this easily. It is painful losing in the final having missed the ITTF African Senior Cup,”  she said.

    Despite arriving late for the championship and putting up a good fight against most of their opponents, the Ethiopian team was awarded the Fair Play trophy by the organizers.

  • 2015 ITTF-Africa Senior Championships: NTTF appeals to NSC for cash

    2015 ITTF-Africa Senior Championships: NTTF appeals to NSC for cash

    Few weeks to the kick-off of the 2015 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Senior Championships holding in Cairo, Egypt, the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) is passionately appealing to the National Sports Commission (NSC) to support the team financially to be able to be part of the championship.

    The tournament, according to Africa Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), serves as qualifiers for this year’s World Championship scheduled for April in China. Also, the championship will aid Nigeria’s players in their quest to improve their world rating.

    According to NTTF Secretary-General, Chinedu Ezeala-Ogundare, the Cairo tournament serves as prerequisite for any team to be part of the 2015 World Championships in China, while it would also improve the country’s chances of getting good rating in the world.

    “The competition was scheduled to hold in Sudan this year but because of the Ebola Virus Disease, it was cancelled. But the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) just confirmed to us that the tournament will now be hosted by Egypt and this is a must for us and we must make it down there. For now, we are hoping to assemble our best players within and across the globe so that we can have a strong team.

    “We are using this medium to appeal to NSC to support us financially in order to be part of this competition. The performance of Aruna Quadri has now put more attention on Nigeria and for us, we need to be part of the competition to ascertain our status as a continental power house,” the NTTF scribe said.

    She, however, lauded the NSC for their unflinching backing in 2014, adding that she is optimistic that the country would make it to Egypt.

    In a statement made available by ATTF and signed by Mokhtar Toukabri, the tournament serves off on January 23 to 29.

    “ATTF has the pleasure in sending to all African Associations the new date of the 2014 ITTF-Africa Senior Championships, 23-29 January 2015 and it will be held in Cairo – Egypt. We need to remind all Associations that this event is a prerequisite for all who would like to participate in the 2015 WTTC in Suzhou – China during 27/4 – 3/5/2015, which means that no entries from Africa in the WTTC except for those African Associations with at least one player to join us in the 2014 ITTF-Africa Senior Championships, Cairo 23-29 January 2015 according to the new rules of ITTF. We are waiting for your final entries before January 15, 2015,” he said.

    However, Nigerian players led by Portugal-based Aruna Quadri are eager to be part of the tournament in order to halt the dominance of Egypt in Africa.

  • COUNTDOWN TO MARRAKESH 2014 AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Coaches back Team Nigeria to retain title

    COUNTDOWN TO MARRAKESH 2014 AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Coaches back Team Nigeria to retain title

    As Team Nigeria’s track and field team arrives in Marrakesh, Morocco on Thursday, for the African Athletics Championships which serve as trial for the 2014 IAAF Athletics World Cup, three Nigerian coaches believe that the  athletes selected  for the championships have what it takes to beat opposition from South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Algeria, Egypt and host Morocco to retain the African title Team Nigeria won in Port Novo, Benin Republic two years ago.

    Coach Gad Onumaegbu, the hurdle coach who discovered and nurtured Gloria Alozie to become the world junior champion in 1996 believes Team Nigeria will dominate the sprints, hurdles, 400m metres and the relays to win the title,

    ” We are going to Morocco to win the title. We shall clear the sprints medals, of the four gold  medals in the hurdles, we can win two. Competition will be tough in the throws with the Egyptians and the Algerians, but Queen Obisesan and Chinwe Okoro can win gold medals.”

    Onumaegbu is also banking on our relay teams.” I have a little reservation about the men 4x400m, but with some special workout, they are also potential gold medalists. Our athletes are highly motivated, I believe we can defend out title”.

    Coach Daniel Etsebiminor, the coach of double Commonwealth Games gold medalist Blessing Okagbare believes the performances of our athletes in Glasgow will spur them to achieve better result in Morocco.

    ” Our main rivals like Kenya have tough battles in their hand in their areas of specialisation. Kenya will fight for long distance and short distance medals with Uganda, Ethopia and even the North Africans, but we don’t have serious oppositions in our area of speciality. In the relays we could clear the four gold medals at stake. Kenya could threaten our boys in the 4x400m, but if we get our acts together, we shall dominate.”

    Etsebiminor ,who is also the coach of the new kid on the block Divine Oduduru who won a silver at the IAAF World Junior last in Oregon, USA, said Okagbare will win the 100m, 200m, and the 4x100m

    Coach Saheed Akinpelu, who give coaching tutorials to most of our quarter-milers like Commonwealth silver medalist Sade Abugan, said chances that any African country will beat Nigeria is very remote. ‘ “Competition for medals will be tough, especially since this edition of the African Championships also serves as trials for the money spinning IAAF World Cup, but I am positive that we shall retain our title. Most of our medals will come from sprints, relays, jumps, hurdles, quatermiles and throws” said Akinpelu

  • Nigeria to host 2014 Africa Squash Championships

    Nigeria to host 2014 Africa Squash Championships

    THE Squash Federation of Africa (SFA) has selected Nigeria to host the 2014 edition of Africa Squash Championships, the President, Nigeria Squash Federation (NSF), Femi Ajagbe, has said.

    Ajagbe said on Monday in Lagos that Nigeria had accepted the offer and would do all it could to make the competition successful.

    Ajagbe, who announced this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the decision was taken at Windhoek, Namibia where the All Africa Junior Squash Championships ended on Sunday.

    NAN reports that this is the first time Nigeria is selected to host the championships from May 4 to May 9, 2014.

    “We are ready to shoulder the responsibility; we will ensure that we put all the necessary things in place to have a successful competition. We won’t wait till 2014 to start preparation; we will put things in motion when we return from Namibia,” he told NAN on telephone from Windhoek.

    ”The federation will solicit for support from the government and the private sponsors and we are optimistic that they will come to our aid; our collective effort will make it a success.”

    NAN reports that Team Nigeria came fifth at the All Africa Junior Championships attended by 12 countries. NAN also reports that Ajagbe was re-elected the Vice-President of SFA.

  • NTTF canvasses sponsorship for international championships

    NTTF canvasses sponsorship for international championships

    Nasiru Bello, the Head Coach, Nigeria Table-Tennis Federation (NTTF), on Wednesday charged corporate organisations in the country to assist the federation’s players to meet up with their international commitments.

    Bello told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the federation’s recent trip to Cote d’Ivoire by road, for a competition, caused the players to arrive late for the event.

    “It was quite a distance and very stressful. Due to this development, we could not meet up with all team events like U-18 boys’, U-15 girls’ and the U -15 boys. If we had arrived earlier, we could have made an appreciable impact in all the team events that we registered for,” he said.

    Bello, however, heaped praises on the U-13 duo of Ahmed Osibanjo and Tosin Oribamise, for winning the ITTF Future Hopes Scholarship Awards, adding that the country was awash with talents.

    “I am appealing to corporate organisations to assist these players, especially to fully actualise their potentials in the sport. If we had arrived in Cote d’Ivoire on time, I am sure we would have excelled in all the team events, but I am happy that the young players proved their mettle,” he added.

    NAN reports that due to their brilliant performance, Ahmed Osibanjo and Tosin Oribamise won the ITTF U-13 male and female scholarship awards.

    The Zone 3 West Africa Open Age Group Table Tennis Championships held between Feb.21 and Feb.24 in Abdijan, Cote d’Ivoire.