The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Olalekan Okusan

  • I’m going for medal at paralympics – Obiora

    I’m going for medal at paralympics – Obiora

    Being her second appearance at the Paralympic Games, Faith Obiora believes she would return to Nigeria with a medal at the end of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil.

    The captain of Team Nigeria to the 2010 Commonwealth Games told NationSport that with her preparation coupled with her experience, she is capable of clinching a medal in the para table tennis event of the games.

    “In Morocco, I must admit that it was not easy qualifying for the Paralympic Games but I think I worked hard for the qualification,” she said.

    Obiora, who has been training at the National Training Centre of the Lagos National Stadium, is in fine form the games while hoping that she would make it to the podium.

    Crowned African champion when she won the Women’s Singles Class 1-5 title in Agadir, Morocco last October, Obiora will be the one female amongst the three players from Nigeria who will be competing in the Brazilian city. Others are Ahmed Koleosho (Class 3) and Emmanuel Nick (Class 4) are the two male players name on the entry list. Competing in Class 5, now 31 years old Obiora, who when younger suffered from poliomyelitis, is a contender for honours.

  • CBN tennis open: I’m not too old for title – Babalola

    CBN tennis open: I’m not too old for title – Babalola

    Having won the men’s singles title than any other player since the inception of the annual Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Tennis Open, Abdulmumuni Babalola believes he still that quality to clinch the title for a record of seven times

    Babalola, who is one of the ageing players that made it to the semifinal stage of the tournament yesterday have clinched the title in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2014 and he is poised to rub shoulders with some of the country’s best like Thomas Otu, Moses Michael and Sylvester Emmanuel for the top prize this year.

    A confident Babalola told NationSport after edging out Nonso Madueke 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinal that being the national Grandslam, he believes he is in top shape to claim the title for a record time.

    “I must tell you that it is a bit tougher to win the competition this year because I am impressed with the performance of the most of the junior players that have not come of age. In those days, we can predict the winner, but with what I am seeing, I think it is not sure for anybody but I will try my best again to see if I can win it again because I am not too old to win the title. I must also concern that we need more tournament like this CBN Open to be able to keep the players busy,” he said.

    For today’s semifinal ties, Babalola will battle against number two seed, Moses Michael, while defending champion, Otu will battle Emmanuel.

    In the women’s semifinal pairing, defending champion, Melissa Ifidzen battles Blessing Samuel while Christy Agugbom square up against Ebere Fortune.

  • CBN tennis open: Michael in mood for title as top seeds hit quarters

    CBN tennis open: Michael in mood for title as top seeds hit quarters

    From a junior player, Moses Michael has matured enough to rub shoulders with top players in the country, but the 2015 finalist is optimistic that he is capable of beating everybody title at this year’s Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Tennis Open.

    Top seeds – Melissa Ifidzhen, Thomas Otu, Ronke Akingbade among others on Wednesday confirmed their places in the quarterfinal stage of the championship holding at the Lagos National Stadium.

    After confirming his place in the last eight of championship, Michael was in positive mood saying, “I think I can make it this year. I don’t care who I am going to face in the next round because I was careless about the draws. I just want to take each match as they come,” he told NationSport.

    2013 women champion, Akingbade however, admitted that clinching the title this year might be a bit hard with the quality of play coupled with the performance of the most of the player.

    “I am playing well because I just won my round of 16 matches and my next match hopes to be explosive because I am playing against number one seed, Agugbom. For me, I am ready and I look forward to the encounter,” she said.

    [news_box style=”2″ display=”category” link_target=”_blank” category=”5″ tag=”Olalekan Okusan” count=”6″ show_more=”on” show_more_type=”link”]

  • CBN tennis open: Players aim for places in Davis Cup team

    As the jostle for places in the Davis Cup team continues, men’s singles defending champion, Thomas Otu and 2013 champion, Henry Atseye trudged on in the ongoing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Tennis Open.

    Otu never hide his intention to retain the title as he brushed aside his opponent in the first round match while Atseye was too fierce for Mohammed Mohammed as the former champion pummeled Mohammed 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the tournament.

      As the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) said during the press briefing to herald the commencement of this year’s CBN Open that the tournament would use the competition to select the team for next month’s Davis Cup.

    Most of the male players taking part in the competition believe they have the wherewithal to make the four-man team to Madagascar.

    For Atseye, making the Davis Cup team is not his top priority as he is just aiming to lift the title this year.

    “I am not interested in making the Davis Cup team because I have already played several of the tournaments. I think the young players should be given the opportunity to represent the country. I believe we can get quality players from this competition and I hope the team will have enough time to prepare for the championship,” Atseye said.

    For this year’s Davis Cup, Nigeria will battle for promotion against Madagascar, Morocco and 13 others in the Africa Zone Group III of the championship.

     According to ITTF, the 2016 edition of the Group III of the Africa zone will hold on the clay courts of the Antanarivo University in Madagascar on July 13 to 16 with 16 teams aiming for the two promotion slots available.

  • Otu, Ifidzhen begin title defence at CBN Tennis Open

    Otu, Ifidzhen begin title defence at CBN Tennis Open

    After the conclusion of the preliminary round of the ongoing 37th Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Open Tennis Championship over the weekend, attention will today shift to the main draw as defending champions, Thomas Otu and Melissa Ifidzhen begin their title defence.

    Over N14m will be at stake at this year’s tournament with all eyes on the men and women singles titles.

    Russian-born Nigerian star, Ifidzhen will surely be the favourite in the women singles having featured in various WTA tournaments this year.

    Also in the men’s singles, Otu, whose performance last year earned him a place in the national team will be hoping to retain the title against but he must wrestle against some of the finest players in the country.

    For the President, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Sani Ndanusa, the federation would remain grateful to the apex bank for keeping faith with the tournament in this trying times of the economy.

    “At a time when some are struggling to hold on to their sponsorship, the CBN has stayed with the NTF and we are very grateful for having us in their plans,” Ndanusa said.

    danusa who was represented by the NTF Vice President, Yemi Owoseni however, charged the players to give their best as it would afford new players to play their ways into the national team.

    The Men and Women Singles winners will get N750, 000 while the runners up will pocket N500, 000. The champions in the wheel chair event will also get N200, 000.

    Otu and Ifidzhen defeated Moses Michael and Christy Agugbom to claim the titles in 2015 while Alex Adewale subdued Jelili Ishola just as Folake Basanya edged Foluke Shittu to clinch the top prizes in the wheelchair events.

  • Sports ministry officials in a fix over Olympics

    Sports ministry officials in a fix over Olympics

    With the fillers from the Ministry of Sports, things are not to be looking up as far as the Rio Olympic Games is concerned.

    Even most of the staff of the sports ministry are in a fix over the preparation as well as the country’s participation in the Rio Olympic Games.

    Aside the cosmetic preparation being embarked by the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), there has been any tangible planning in place to affirm the country’s readiness for the games.

    NationSport learnt that a top official of the Sports Ministry are also lamenting that things are at a standstill as far as the Olympic Games is concerned.

    “We don’t even know what is happening because we are all in the dark on Rio Olympic Games. Even the recommendation we have made for the ministry to support athletes in their preparation, nothing is yet to materialise. We are just looking up to the next thing and this is really bad with less than 60 days to the commencement of the games in Brazil,” the official who pleaded anonymity lamented.

    Meanwhile, organisers of the Rio Olympics have unveiled the medals that will be competing for in Brazil.

    International Olympic Committee (IOC), President Thomas Bach, who was present at the launch event in Barra Olympic Park, said: “Today marks the start of the final countdown to the first Olympic Games to be staged in South America.”

  • Sports federations in dark over Rio 2016

    Sports federations in dark over Rio 2016

    The majority of the sports federations whose athletes have already qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are still in the dark over participation in the biggest sporting event in the world.

    A few weeks ago, officials of the Ministry of Sports began compilation of list of athletes and officials expected to make the trip to Brazil, but with what is happening at present, nothing seems to be on ground for teams to prepare for the games.

    Less than 50 days before the commencement of the Olympics in Rio and despite the approval of the 2016 Budget, the Sports Ministry has continued to keep mute on the country’s preparation while the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalong who is expected to be on top of the planning seems to be silent in recent times.

    An official of one of the sports federations who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NationSport that it was clear that the Sports Ministry is not ready for the Olympic Games as most of their requests for the games are yet to be approved.

    “We have written to the sports ministry on our plans for the Olympics, but I can tell you that up till now, we have not received any response from them. But we are going ahead with our training because it is obvious that this will be the worst preparation, we have ever had for the Olympic Games. The minister seems to be silent lately as he has been avoiding talking about the Olympic Games,” he lamented.

    Federations like wrestling are at present in Abuja with 18 athletes shaping up for the Olympics with seven of them led by golden girl – Odunayo Adekuoroye expected to lead six others in Brazil in August.

    For table tennis, nothing seems to be on the ground despite the efforts by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) to keep the players in shape with regular tournaments. Some of the players are using their personal fund to attend competitions across the globe in order to prepare well for the games.

  • Keshi was a role model to us – Mutiu Adepoju

    Keshi was a role model to us – Mutiu Adepoju

    Erstwhile Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju has said that most of them were looking up to the departed Stephen Keshi as a role model in the national team.

    “Before we joined the national team, we were all looking up to him as captain. He was such a cool and calm person who never talked too much while in the team. He was very firm and nice to all of us when we joined the team. He was respected on the team because of the way he carried himself,” he said.

    Adepoju, however described Keshi as a motivator, particularly during crucial matches involving the national team. “We all respect him because he had good intention and he was always motivating the team. When we joined the team, we had a good relationship with him.”

    The former 3SC star said he spoke to the late coach last month, while acknowledging that during his tenure as the gaffer of the Eagles, Keshi brought sanity to Nigerian football when he led the team to win the AFCON in 2013.

    “I think Nigeria will remember Keshi for his efforts to bring sanity to Nigerian football at a time when everybody has lost hope. He gave direction to Nigerian football by defying all odds, with the introduction of home-based players into the national team.

    “Particularly players that were now known, but he took the risk and it was these same players that ensured that we won the title in South Africa. He will also be remembered as the only Nigerian to win the AFCON as a player and as a coach. We will surely miss him and it was painful that he had to leave at this time,” Adepoju lamented.

  • Why I made Keshi captain – Onigbinde

    Why I made Keshi captain – Onigbinde

    Former Super Eagles handler, Adegboye Onigbinde has described the late national team captain, Stephen Keshi as a dedicated and committed Nigerian endowed with leadership qualities.

    Onigbinde told NationSport on Wednesday that he was shocked over the unexpected demise of Keshi adding that the nation would surely miss his service.

    “When I named the captain, I saw some qualities in him and he was also a dedicated player. He has this leadership trait that stands him out so it was easy for me to name him the captain of the senior national team in 1983. After then we were not that close, but I knew when he worked with Shuaibu Amodu as assistant coach and when he took charge of the team,” he said.

    “We will surely miss his service and it is unfortunate that he had to leave us at this time,” he added.

    [news_box style=”3″ display=”tag” link_target=”_blank” tag=”Keshi” count=”6″ show_more=”on” header_background=”#9ec12c” header_text_color=”#000000″]

  • Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Abiodun confirms as Team Nigeria member

    Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Abiodun confirms as Team Nigeria member

    The dream of Bode Abiodun of making his debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has become a reality as the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday confirmed the Portugal-based star as the third member of Nigeria men’s team.

    Abiodun, a quarterfinalist at the ITTF Premier Lotto Nigeria Open is the third highest ranked Nigerian in the world while his performance at the last World Championship in Malaysia shot him up the ranking.

    In the list of 16 countries expected to compete in the men’s team event of the Rio Olympic Games, Nigeria as Africa’s flag bearer beat Egypt to the slot after its performance at the World Team Championship.

    An elated Abiodun told NationSport recently that he was happy making the list while hoping that the team can spring surprise in Brazil.

    “I am so excited making the team and for me it was a dream come true for me playing at the Olympic Games. I hope the new system will aid the team to cause upset in Brazil. I hope to give my best and believing that Nigeria will cause a major scare against some of the top teams in Rio,” Abiodun said.

      Meanwhile, ITTF-Latin American Cup, Hugo Calderano will lead Brazil against an Olympic Legends Team, as a curtain raiser for the forthcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He will line up alongside Gustavo Tsuboi and Cazuo Matsumoto against the trio comprising Wang Liqin, Jörgen Persson and Jean-Michel Saive.