The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Olalekan Okusan

  • Olympics: Boxers’ camping suffers delay

    Exactly 26 days to the commencement of the AIBA African Continental Olympic Qualifying Competition for Men and Women in Cameroun, the camping of Nigerian boxers for the tournament suffered delay as the Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF) is still awaiting the approval of the National Sports Commission (NSC).

    Already, one of the invited foreign-based boxers invited for the camping, England-based Sadiq Umar arrived in Lagos on Wednesday hoping to join others in camp but the athlete was shocked when he was told by official of NBF to hold on as they are still awaiting directive from NSC.

    Like other sports that are still not sure of making it to the Olympics Qualifiers, boxing may be heading to another doom following the inability to commence camping for the qualifying tournament in Cameroon.

    A not-too-happy Umar told NationSport yesterday that he was not surprised with the shoddy arrangement but lamented that the late commencement of the camping may rub off negatively on the country’s fortune in Cameroon.

    He however, promised to intensify his training at the National Stadium in Lagos under the watchful eyes of national coach, Tony Konyegwachie, who also regretted the delay in camping exercise.

    24 boxers including England and Belgium-based pugilists have been called up to fight for the eight slots at stake. Among the pugilists invited to compete for the three slots in the women event are 2015 African Games medalists – Edith Agu-Ogoke, Caroline Linus and Kehinde Obareh, while the likes of Efetobor Apochi, Efe Ajagba will battle for the five slots in the men’s event.

    In the list of boxers made available to NationSport, 15 male and nine female with five making the final trip to Cameroon in the men’s division while three will represent Nigeria in the women’s event in Yaounde are expected to resume at the Lagos camp.

     Nigeria will compete in 69kg, 75kg, 81kg, 91kg and +91kg in the men’s category while in the women’s division; Nigeria will compete in three recognized weight categories – 51kg, 60kg and 75kg.

    Meanwhile, qualification for the boxing events at the 2016 Summer Olympics is based on the APB and WSB World Rankings, APB and WSB World and Olympic Qualifier, the 2015 World Championships, and the 2016 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

    For both men and women, each boxer is selected to compete for the Games through the four Continental Olympic Qualifying Tournaments to be held in 2016.

    Algeria’s duo of Abdelkader Chadi (64kg) and Ilya Abbadi (75kg) as well as Egypt’s Hosam Abdin (75kg) and Morocco’s Mohammed Rabii (69kg) have booked their places at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

  • 39th ITF/CAT African Junior Championships: McCleod, Adetunji in trick ties

    After having an easy passage to the second round of the 39th ITF/CAT African Junior Championships holding in Tunis, Nigeria’s Angel McCleod has been handed a trick tie against number six seed, Egypt’s Dalila Said.

      Also McCleod’s compatriot, Adetayo Adetunji who had a bye to the second round will battle another seeded player, South Africa’s Nadine De Villiers.

      In the girls’ doubles main draw, McCleod and Adetunji will face another Herculean task as they will battle against Morocco’s duo of Oumaima Aziz and Diae El-Jardi.

      However, McCleod began her campaign on a bright note when she fought well against Mali’s Fatoumata Keita.

      In the first set, McCleod was on top of her game as she won 6-3 but the second set changed the tone of the match as the Malian restored parity with a 4-6 win over the Nigerian teenager.

      But undaunted by the second set defeat, McCleod wasted no time when she rounded up the game at 6-0 to bundle out the Malian.

      It was another victory for Germany-born Nigerian Andiyo Inwang who was in superb form against Botswana’s Lone Kgosiitsile with a 6-1, 6-0 win to progress to the next round of the girls’ singles. The next tie for the Germany-born Nigerian is against number three seed, Egypt’s Lamis Alhussein Abdel-Aziz.

      According to national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, the players put up a good fight as most of the players in the tournament are the best in the continent.

      He however, hopes that the players can continue with their good form to make it to the podium in Tunisia.

      “I think our players are also talented like every player in the competition as the only different between our players and others is exposure as most of the North African players compete in various competitions across the globe. I am hoping that we can continue with the fine form against some of the seeded players,” he said.

      Ubale believes the tournament would help the players to improve their continental rating as it is an ITF-sanctioned Grade Two competition.

       The national coach however, said that after the tournament, McCleod would join Adetunji in South Africa to compete in tournaments as part of the build up to the South Africa AJC while he hopes to return to Nigeria to commence camping for the six players expected to join Adetunji and McCleod in South Africa for the AJC.

  • ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Offiong to redeem image in Sudan

    ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Offiong to redeem image in Sudan

    Edem Offiong has put the disappointment of the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville as what she is hoping for at the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup is Sudan is to right the wrong that befell her few months ago.

    As the defending champion of the African Games, Edem Offiong could on hold to her title as she was shown the exit in the knockout stage by the eventual winner, Egypt’s Dina Meshref.

    However, a determined Offiong who is now playing her trade in the Portuguese league said she is hoping to redeem her image by clinching the title in Sudan.

    “I know it is not going to be easy in Sudan though my expectation is high because I am targeting the title in Sudan. I did not regret that I could not retain my singles title at the African Games in Brazzaville because the chat did not favour after I failed to feature at the 2015 African Senior Cup in Cameroun. I was not ranked for the games and this made me to play against Dine Meshref early in the competition. She was lucky to have won because I played incredibly well and she even admitted it,” she lamented.

    She added: “I must say that the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup is going to be a tough one which I know. My last appearance in the competition was a disaster because I got a walkover, when Nigeria hosted the competition which was also unbelievable for everybody. But as an athlete, you have to get used to the fact that you can win today and lose tomorrow. You have to take the positive out of a defeat and go back to work hard which I did. I am ready to get to the final in this event and probably win the title,” she enthused.

    On what to expect in Sudan, Edem Offiong said: “I am ready for this tournament and I can assure you that all my opponents will feel the heat back-to-back. Since I returned to my base in Portugal it has not been easy playing matches non-stop. But the good about the whole scenario is that we have been winning all our matches. I must thank my teammates as well as my coach. I must single out the support we are getting form my club president, Garrido for ensuring that as ladies, we are well catered for before and after every match. I must acknowledge that this has really made me a better player.”

    Edem Offiong hopes to play for another six years, saying “I intend to play as long as my strength continues to carry me.”

    She however, expressed optimism that she would make it to her third Olympics appearance in Brazil at the Olympics Qualifying tournament which holds after the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup.

  • Rio qualifiers: Camping for boxers begins next week in Lagos

    There are strong indications that uncertainty surrounding the camping of boxers for the 2016 Olympics Qualifying Tournament in Cameroun may have been laid to rest as the Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF) have confirmed that the camp will open next week in Lagos.

    NationSport confirmed the boxers are expected to resume camping on Sunday February 7 under the watchful eyes of Coach Tony Konyegwachie.

    England-based Sadiq Umar also confirmed the camp opening, while expressing his willingness to wear the colours of Nigeria. “I am so excited about the camping because I have been looking forward to it. I hope to arrive Nigeria on Wednesday next week to teams up with the entire team in Lagos,” Umar said.

    Already, 24 boxers including England and Belgium-based pugilists have been called up to fight for the eight slots at stake. The camping becomes necessary as some of the boxers will be using the camping to test might against one another while the final eight-man team that will represent Nigeria at the qualifiers will be made known.

    Among the pugilists invited to compete for the three slots in the women event are 2015 African Games medalists – Edith Agu-Ogoke, Caroline Linus and Kehinde Obareh, while the likes of Efetobor Apochi, Efe Ajagba will battle for the five slots in the men’s event.

    In the list of boxers made available to NationSport, 15 male and nine female with five making the final trip to Cameroon in the men’s division while three will represent Nigeria in the women’s event in Yaounde will resume the Lagos camping.

    Nigeria will compete in 69kg, 75kg, 81kg, 91kg and +91kg in the men’s category while in the women’s division, Nigeria will compete in three recognized weight categories – 51kg, 60kg and 75kg.

    Meanwhile, qualification for the boxing events at the 2016 Summer Olympics is based on the APB and WSB World Rankings, APB and WSB World and Olympic Qualifier, the 2015 World Championships, and the 2016 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

    For both men and women, each boxer is selected to compete for the Games through the four Continental Olympic Qualifying Tournaments to be held in 2016.

    Algeria’s duo of Abdelkader Chadi (64kg) and Ilya Abbadi (75kg) as well as Egypt’s Hosam Abdin (75kg) and Morocco’s Mohammed Rabii (69kg) have booked their places at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

  • Olympics: Taekwondists depart for Morocco

    Olympics: Taekwondists depart for Morocco

     

    Since Athens 2004 Olympics in Greece, Nigeria has maintained 100 percent appearance at the multi-sports tournament, as the four-am team departed yesterday for the Rio Olympic Qualifiers in Morocco, Coach John Victor believes the team has the quality to ensure that Nigeria’s record remains intact at the games.

    The team departed the country aboard an Air Maroc Airline yesterday enroute Rabat to Agadir, venue of the championship and Coach Victor told NationSport the athletes made up of two male and two female are capable of winning more than two slots to Brazil.

    The athletes are medalists at the 2015 African Games and they are hoping to compete against fighters from Egypt, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Algeria, among others.

    “I think they are capable of doing well for the country and for themselves. They know the importance of qualifying for the Olympics because that is the biggest stage for every athlete. Nigeria has always qualified for the Olympics and I am sure these athletes will not reduce the standard. They have trained well for the qualifiers and what they need to do is to put every knowledge acquired during the training to practice. Most of their opponents are not new to them except Morocco, who did not participate at the African Games. I hope and pray that by this weekend, we will have good news for Nigerians,” Victor said.

    The first athlete to take to the ring on Saturday February 6 is Mohammed Jamilu, who is expected to battle 11 competitors to be able to secure one of the two slots in his weight category.

    Uzoamaka Otuadinma, 2015 African Games gold medalist will be competing in the women +67kg and the odds remain heavily in her favour, as there are only five persons registered in her category for the qualifiers, by far the least of all the weight categories. To qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics, the 24 year-old needs to win only one match to qualify as she is already in the Semi-Finals.

    23-year-old Chinazum Nwosu is one of the most consistent female fighters in Nigeria for the past six years and for the Olympic qualifiers in Agadir, there are 11 registered competitors in the female -57kg. This means that Nwosu will need to win two fights to qualify for the Olympics. Standing in her way to qualify for the Rio 206 Olympics will be the number one Africa seed, Bineta Diedhiou of Senegal who is ranked 22nd on the WTF Olympic standings.

    Edwin Samson is the least experienced of the Nigerian Olympic Taekwondo team, and also has won the least number of medals – national or international. With 20 registered competitors in his weight category, the most of all the categories, Samson theoretically faces the strongest opposition path to his Olympic dream amongst the entire Nigeria Taekwondo contingent.

  • NTTF U-16 National League to debut

    NTTF U-16 National League to debut

    To unearth talents that will join the growing list of players already discovered, the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) is organizing U-16 national league that will involve players across the country.

    The league is meant to give new players the opportunity to make national junior teams as well as work their way into the senior team.

    It will hold on March 29 to April 8 at the National Training Centre in National Stadium while the grand finale which is known as Super League will hold on May 14 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

    Each state across the country is expected to present two boys and two girls while the top eight players in the boys and girls event will qualify for the Super League.

    According to the prospectus of the tournament, states wishing to participate will register with the NTTF, while only the first 20 boys teams and the first 16 girls teams to register for the League shall be accepted to participate while only players registered by states which are affiliated to NTTF are eligible to participate, while all players shall hold the current NTTF Player’s License, which must be produced on demand.

     For the President of NTTF, Wahid Oshodi, more talented players would be given the opportunity to showcase their skills to the national handlers.

    “I think our focus in 2016 as in 2015 is that we must continue to develop the junior and cadet players. We must give our most talented young players the right atmosphere for them to grow. This of course means giving them the best coaching and affording them the opportunity to play in tournaments internationally so we can assess how well they are doing against the best young players in the world. We have done quite well in this regard in the last two years but there are a lot more gifted players all over the country and we must do our best to discover and harness them. We hope to be able to create new tournaments outside Lagos and Abuja. If we can find the right partnerships with the private sector this will assist greatly in boosting the spread of the game all over the country,” Oshodi said.

  • ITTF Ranking: Quadri returns to 35, Abiodun’s rating improves

    ITTF Ranking: Quadri returns to 35, Abiodun’s rating improves

    Having started the year on a good note with his impressive performance at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour in Hungary and Germany, Aruna Quadri’s efforts are yielding positively as the 2014 ITTF Star Player is now ranked 35 from the February 2016 ranking released on Wednesday by the world table tennis ruling body.

    Also Quadri’s compatriot, Bode Abiodun is one of the most active players in the latest ranking as the Portugal-based star moved up 23 places to be ranked 213 in the world.

    Quadri who started the year in top 48 moved up to 35 after beating Sweden’s Par Gerell, who was then rated 30 in the world at the German Open.

    Egypt’s Omar Assar maintained his status as the best ranked African player in the world despite dropping from 29 to 31.

    What would have been a massive improvement for Assar was thwarted at the German Open as the Egyptian nearly caused an upset when he battled Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the first round of the German Open.

    With home support for the German, Assar was in fine form when he rallied from 3-1 down to level the match at 3-3 only to lose the last game to prevent the biggest heart-ache for the Germans.

    A joyful Quadri told NationSport yesterday that he was excited returning the top in the world but he hopes to continue to work harder. “I feel great and happy to improve my ranking particularly starting early in the year. I hope and pray for great success in subsequent tournaments.”

    However, Quadri was on the losing side for his French club, Jura Morez as they were beaten 4-1 by Romagne late on Tuesday.

    In less than 11 days, Quadri will be battling it out with other top players in Africa for the sole slot in the 2016 ITTF World Cup when the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup serves off in Khartoum, Sudan.

    German Open champion, China’s Ma Long held on to his top place in the world rating while the best European player in the world, Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov dropped to fourth from fifth in the world.

    However, Chinese players still maintained their supremacy at the top of the ranking with four of them led by Ma Long dominating the men’s ranking while they also held sway in the women’s rating with Shiwen Liu ranked number one.

  • 2016 Olympic: Egypt embarks on training tour of Singapore for Nigeria

    To ensure that they beat Nigeria to the sole spot in the team event of the Rio Olympic Games, Egyptian national team has moved their training camp to Singapore in readiness for the 2016 World Team Championship which serves as qualifiers.

    Aside Omar Assar who is playing in the French elite League alongside Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri, every member of the Egyptian team are at present in Singapore warming up for the World Championship holding this month in Malaysia.

    Africa’s number one female player, Dina Meshref confirmed this, saying that they cannot afford to lose the spot to Nigeria as the West African remains the only stumbling block to the North African team ambition.

    “We are now in Singapore and we hope to play in two ITTF World Tours in Hungary and Germany. After this we will return to Singapore to continue training. We had already qualified for players in the singles event and we want to crown it with wining the sole slot in the men and women team events through the world championships in Malaysia. Nigeria is the only team we believe can give us a tough challenge and we don’t want to leave any chance for them,” she said.

    Also to serve as warning signal for Nigeria, Omar Assar was in fine form against world number four, Germany’s Dimitry Ovtcharov in a  thrilling round of 32 match at the just concluded German Open.

    A very proud Assar said: “I am very proud to be in Berlin playing particularly against the best players in the world. The German Open is a big part of the
    preparation for the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup in Sudan. Together with the camps
    and trainings with Chinese players is one highlights for this week for me,” he said.

    Meanwhile, President of African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy believes the Malaysia tourney would provide African teams to shape up for the Olympic Games as well as compete for the continent’s sole slot in the team event.

  • Olympics qualifiers: Nigeria’s taekwondists may face oppositions in Morocco

    From the list of participants at this month’s Rio Olympic Qualifiers in Morocco, Nigeria’s taekwondists will battle hard against the continent’s best to make a return to the Olympic Games in Brazil.

    Since 2004, Nigerian taekwondists have not missed the Olympics and being the final shot at making to Rio, the Morocco qualifiers hold on February 6 to 7 in Agadir and Nigeria will be represented by four athletes.

    Nigeria team will be seeded top four in Africa, and thus, it is easy to project the opponent that they will meet in the semi-finals, which is the deciding match for the Olympics ticket.
    For Uzoamaka Otuadinma, 2015 African Games gold medalist will be compete in the women +67kg and the odds remain heavily in her favour, as there are only five persons registered in her category for the qualifiers, by far the least of all the weight categories. To qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics, the 24 year-old needs to win only one match to qualify as she is already in the Semi-Finals.
    Being seeded 3rd for this event, her opponent will be Mamima Kone of Cote D’Ivoire, who is seeded 2nd in Africa and ranked 28th on the WTF Olympic ranking list, a whole 16 slots ahead of Uzoamaka Otuadima who is currently 54th on the WTF Olympic standings.

    23-year-old Chinazum is one of the most consistent female fighters in Nigeria for the past six years and for the Olympic qualifiers in Agadir, there are 11 registered competitors in the female -57kg. This means that Nwosu will need to win two fights to qualify for the Olympics. Standing in her way to qualify for the Rio 206 Olympics will be the number one Africa seed, Bineta Diedhiou of Senegal who is ranked 22nd on the WTF Olympic standings.
    29-year-old Jamilu Mohammed will be eager to follow in the steps of his fellow Kano-state born predecessor, Isah Muhammad, and qualify for the Olympics. Mohammed, like Nwosu, has only 11 competitors in his weight category and is the 2nd ranked seed in Africa. This ensures that he needs to repeat his 2015 AAG [15 – 10] taming of Libya’s Yousef Shriha, who is the number 3 seed and will stand in Mohammed’s quest to follow.
    Edwin Samson is the least experienced of the Nigerian Olympic Taekwondo team, and also has won the least number of medals – national or international. With 20 registered competitors in his weight category, the most of all the categories, Samson theoretically faces the strongest opposition path to his Olympic dream amongst the entire Nigeria Taekwondo contingent.
    Having a WTF Olympic ranking of 132, Samson will have the major stronghold of Senegal’s Balla Dieye, who has an Olympic ranking of 20, standing in his way, if he eventually makes it to the semi-finals. If there was ever an African Taekwondo Dinosaur, Balla is it, as he has been around since Taekwondo made an official entrance into the Sydney 200 Olympic Games.

  • ITTF World Tour: Quadri, Assar lead African stars to German Open

    ITTF World Tour: Quadri, Assar lead African stars to German Open

    • Joola gets German coach for Nigerian

    Africa’s best table tennis players, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Egypt’s Omar Assar will lead 15 other African players to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour tagged German Open holding in Berlin from January 27 to 31.

    As the first Super series among the six in the ITTF World calendar, the German Open boasts $120,000 prize money with some of the world’s best including world number one, China’s Ma Long will be competing at the five-day tournament.

    Also to ensure that Aruna Quadri has a good outing in the competition, table tennis kits firm, Joola has engaged the services of former German coach, Martin Aldomeit, who handled the 2014 ITTF Star Player at the 2014 World Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany.

    Unlike the Major and Challenge series where players will compete from the group to qualify to the main draw, German Open is staged in a knockout format.

    Also only the top 16 in the world are seeded for the tournament with over 200 players competing for the 48 slots in the main draw of the men’s singles.

    Quadri, who recently made it to the last eight of the Hungarian Open is in fine shape for the tournament and he will also partner compatriot, Bode Abiodun in the doubles and they will be hoping for good outing just like they got to quarterfinal at the Hungarian Open in Budapest.

    Egypt has the largest number of players from Africa competing at the German Open with Omar Assar be joined by veterans like El-Sayed Lashin and Ahmed Saleh as well as Mohammed El-Beiali and Khalid Assar.

    Algeria will be led by Sami Kherouf and he will be joined by three other male players while Islem Laid will champion the female campaign for the North Africa.

    The best female player in Africa, Egypt’s Dina Meshref will lead other three players in the women’s singles and she will be hoping to better her first round exit at the Hungarian Open.

    In the draw conducted yesterday by the organisers, Nigeria’s Abiodun will begin his campaign against France’s Romain Lorentz, while Quadri will begin his battle from the second round against Chinese Taipei’s Chia-Shengto Lee.

    Meanwhile, many of the top players will be seeking to repeat previous triumphs they have had at the German Open.

    The names of the players in question are China’s Ma Long, the host nation’s Timo Boll and Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus. Furthermore, Dimitrij Ovtcharov can be added to the list as well as China’s Zhang Jike; all are previous winners