The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Governor’s Cup

  • 17th Governor’s Cup: Dutchman crushes top seed in first round

    17th Governor’s Cup: Dutchman crushes top seed in first round

    The main draw of the first week of the 2017 Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship served off on a rather surprising note as top seed, Karim Mohamed-Mamooun of Egypt crashed out following a 2-6, 2-6 loss to unseeded Stephan Fransen of the Netherlands.
    The Egyptian, who had featured at the previous three Nigeria Futures held in Abuja early this year, was an overwhelming favourite to win the match on Court Three having rose few places in the past week to hit the top of the ranking for the tournament pushing Turkey’s Cem Ilkel to number two. He had no answer to the aggressive play of the 29-year-old right-handed double hand backhand player.
    There was no joy either for the home fans as some of the country’s top players were also sent packing in the first round of the two-stage $100, 000 prize-money tournament as Clifford Enosoregbe, who was Nigeria’s best performer in the last edition, lost 3-6, 0-6 to Andrew Watson of Great Britain while reigning CBN Open champion, Abdulmumini Babalola  also succumbed 0-6, 3-6 to Johan Tatlot of France.
    It was the same story for Joseph Imeh who scratched against Serbian Ilija Vucic having lost 1-6 in the first set.
    An unmemorable day for Babalola and  Enosoregbe was completed on the Lord Rumens’ Centre Court as they were edged 6-7 (2), 6-7 (4) by fourth-seeded French duo of Tom Jomby and Sebastien Tatlot.
    With the early exits of some of the country’s top players, the chances of the country to make significant impact in the tournament now rest on the junior players some of whom are making their debut at the big stage.
  • Governor’s Cup Tennis:  540 players to storm Lagos

    Governor’s Cup Tennis:  540 players to storm Lagos

  • NNPC/Shell Cup Preliminaries: Lagos, Edo, Oyo record big wins

    NNPC/Shell Cup Preliminaries: Lagos, Edo, Oyo record big wins

     

    A hat-trick by Fagbolade Praise and a brace from Toriola Moses ensured Lagos State representative, Ijaye Housing Estate defeated their counterpart from Ondo State, Saint Daniel International College 5-0 in the Day 1 of the zonal preliminaries of the 2017 NNPC/Shell Cup held at the Ijebu Muslim College in Ijebu-Ode Zone on Wednesday.

    The Coach Adeshina Yusuf led side who won the last edition of the GTBank Governors Cup made known their intention of adding the NNPC/Shell Cup trophy to their cabinet by dominating the game from the blast of the whistle till the end of the game.

    In a chat with NationSport after the encounter, hat-trick hero, Fagbolade said his main aim is to help his side qualify for the quarter final of the competition.

    “I am very happy to score four goals today because I didn’t expect score such amount of goals.

    “Though I feel I can score like 10 goals in this competition, my major objective is to help my school to qualify from this zone to the next stage of the competition,” he told NationSport after the encounter.

    In earlier match decided at the center,

    Asegun High School, Oyo State also defeated Kogi State representative 5-1.

    At the Adeola Odutola College center, first half strike by Arase Iyoboro and second half goals from Aigbokie Joseph, Ojelum Earnest, Oviahon Lucky and Emmanuel Micheal ensured Hensen Demonstration School, Edo State whitewashed Mastercare International School, Delta State 5-0.

    Coach of Hensen Demonstration School, Chinedu Uba expressed satisfaction with the performance of his players.

    “It was a wonderful performance from my team and I will tell them not to let the result gets into their head because we still have a long way to go. We will continue to work hard and pray that we qualify from this center,” Uba told NatioSport.

    In the last match at the center, Islaudeen Middle High School, Osun State failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage by losing 1-0 to nine-man Community High School, Akwa Ibom.

    Day 1 Results:

    Oyo 5-1 Kogi

    Ondo 0 – 5 Lagos

    Delta 0-5 Edo

    Osun 0-1 Akwa Ibom

    Day 2 fixtures:

    Ijebu Muslim College

    Ekiti vs Delta 9am

    Edo vs Osun 11am

    1. Ibom vs Ekiti 2pm

    Delta vs Osun 4pm

    Adeola Odutola College center:

    Kwara vs Oyo 9am

    Kogi vs Ondo 11am

    Lagos vs Kwara 2pm

    Oyo vs Ondo 4pm

  • Delta Governor’s Cup 2014 kicks off

    Delta Governor’s Cup 2014 kicks off

    After watching Comprehensive Secondary School, Ogwashi-Uku, cart away a cash prize of two million naira and a 30-seater Coaster bus last year, all secondary schools in Delta State have been waiting eagerly for the kick off of the 2nd edition of the Delta State Governor’s Cup football competition. The moment has come.

    Over 25,000 school children from 200 secondary schools from across the state watched last year’s final at the Warri City Stadium, where Comprehensive School defeated Alegbo Secondary School, Effurun, 1-0 to emerge the overall champion.

    The enthusiasm generated in that epic final has increased the number of entries for the 2014 edition. A total number of 456 secondary schools from the 25 local council areas of the state are in the race.

    Fixtures made available to journalists Thursday from the office of the Commissioner for Education (Basic and Secondary), Professor Patrick Mouboghare, showed that the battle for zonal tickets has already commenced at local government level. Mouboghare doubles as Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Governor’s Cup.

    Already, intra-local government matches have started in Aniocha South, with Adaigbo Secondary School trading tackles with Otulu Secondary School, while Abah-Unor Mixed Secondary School is paired against Nshiagu College. Other fixtures are Ngwu Mixed Secondary School vs Olloh Mixed Secondary School, Ewulu vs Ifite, Nsukwa Grammar School Vs Ejeme-Aniogor, Egbudu-Akah vs Adonte, Comprehensive High School vs Anthony’s Model College and Ashama Comprehensive Vs Isho Mixed Secondary School.

    According to the organisers, schools that will compete in the zonal level will emerge from the on-going intra local government matches.

    Meanwhile, the LOC boss, Mouboghare has sounded a note of warning that Principals and Games Masters of the various schools would be held responsible for any act of violence and use of mercenaries in the Governor’s Cup competition.

    “The enthusiasm is getting higher now and I am sure some people will want to win at all cost. But I want to say that the LOC is ready to fish out and punish anyone who has a hidden agenda for the Delta Governor’s Cup competition.

    In the LOC for the Delta Governor’s Cup are ex-internationals like Davidson Owumi, John Omughele, Victor Ikpeba, Austin Okocha, Seigha Porbeni among others.

  • Etisalat backs Lagos Governor’s Cup

    Etisalat backs Lagos Governor’s Cup

    As part of its commitment to support the development of sports in Nigeria, Etisalat has thrown its weight behind the 12th edition of Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The company has also restated its commitment to uplifting and share in the passion of Nigerians in the area of sports.

    Speaking at a press conference to kick start the tournament, Head, Events and Sponsorship, Etisalat Nigeria, Ms Modupe Thani, said the company was proud to be associated with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the tournament, expressing the belief that the relationship will help to develop the game of tennis. She praised the LOC for organising the tournament, and described sports as a unifying factor which brings people together.

    “Etisalat Nigeria has been a supporter of the Governor’s Cup since 2008 and in doing so, aims to not only improve the quality, flare and passion for the game in Nigeria but also extend the reach of talented Nigerian players by exposure to their international counterparts. We are also committed to promoting and developing other sports activities in Nigeria including football, through our official partnership with FC Barcelona European football Club,” she said.

    She praised the planned participation of this year’s tournament which will involve 55 countries, saying that efforts in promoting the tournament so far have been effective. She also added that the company was ready to give its support in whatever measure to ensure the success of this year’s tournament.

    Chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis, Chief Pius Oluwole Akinyelure, noted that this year’s tournament will involve players from 55 countries as against 35 countries which played in last year’s tournament. The countries playing this year include; the United States, Spain, France, Russia, Britain, Slovakia, Poland, South Africa, Ukraine, Italy, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Sweden, Tunisia, Denmark, Bulgaria and Pakistan, amongst others.

    Speaking on behalf of the President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Sani Ndanusa, the Vice President, NTF, Mr Adeyemi Owoseni praised the efforts of the sponsors as well as the LOC. He said the championship has over the years provided a solid platform for tourism in Nigeria and an easy avenue for players to meet and contest with top tennis players from across the world.