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Tag: Olalekan Okusan

  • Olympics qualifiers: I depend on my Morocco experience – Otuadinma

    Olympics qualifiers: I depend on my Morocco experience – Otuadinma

    Uzoamaka Otuadinma started taekwondo in late 2011 and few months later, she won gold at the National Sports Festival for Delta State. Her exploit has continued to aid her inclusion in the national team that at the 2014 Commonwealth Championship, she returned home with bronze medal while her presence at the Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) tournament has also fetched her medals.

    As a debutant at the 2015 African Games, she defied all odds to win the only gold medal in taekwondo for Nigeria and now she is set to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament holding in Agadir, Morocco next month.

    “I am eager to enter the ring and compete at the Olympics Qualifiers because I am fully fit and ready to get one of the slots to Brazil. I can’t wait to get to Morocco because the experience I had during the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville has boosted my confidence and I am ready to wrestle for the slots with any athlete regardless of their pedigree,” she said.

    The Commonwealth medalist believes the training camp in Abuja has been helpful for their build up to the tournament in Morocco, while hoping that the four-man team representing Nigeria at the qualifiers would get the slots for Brazil. “We are all looking forward to the Morocco tournament and we are all in good shape. Our camping in Abuja has been helpful and we hope we can replicate everything we have been taught during the qualifiers. We are also hoping for good draw to be able to get the slots and make Nigeria proud,” she added.

    Aside Princess Dudu who qualified for the Athens 2014 Olympics, no female taekwondist has made it to the Olympics while efforts by the likes of Joy Ekhator could not secure her slot to the 2008 and 2012 Olympics in Beijing and London. But Otuadinma is hoping to break the jinx in Morocco from February 5 to 7.

    Nigeria will compete in four weight categories – -58kg, -68kg, -57kg, -67kg and it is expected to present two male and two female athletes for the qualifiers.

    At present, only three athletes from Africa have booked the places at the Rio 2016 Olympics based on the world ranking. They are 2012 Olympics Champion, Gabon’s Anthony Obame (+80kg), Egypt’s Hedaya Malak (-57kg) and Cote d’Ivoire’s Cheik Cisse (-80kg).

    Eight weight categories will be competed for in Morocco with finalists in each weight cadre getting automatic qualification to the Olympic Games in Brazil.

  • Boxers may begin camping for Olympics qualifiers in Cameroon

    There are indications that the camping of boxers for the 2016 Olympics Qualifying Tournament in Cameroun may open this week in Lagos.

    NationSport learned that the national coach, Tony Konyegwachie has invited 24 boxers including England and Belgium-based pugilists 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.

    However, Konyegwachie has said that he is sure that the camping would provide them the opportunity to assess the boxers as well as pick the best hands for the country.

    At present, some of the boxers have taken their training outside the shores of the country with most of them using United States as their training base.

    2015 African Games medalists – Edith Agu-Ogoke, Caroline Linus, Kehinde Obareh and Efetobor Apochi are honing their skills in various cities across the U.S.

    Also, most of the invited foreign-based boxers are also fine-tuning their build up to the camping exercise in Lagos.

    In the list made available to NationSport, Konyegwachie said it is made up 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.

    The tactician who led the Team Nigeria to successful outing at the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville told NationSport that he is confident that with six weeks, the team would be ready for the qualifiers.

    “With the new rules of boxing at the Olympics, so many boxers now have the chance to compete at the Olympics and we have decided to include some foreign-based boxers who are born outside the country but are ready to represent their fatherland. We will be focusing on five weight categories in the men’s event while we only have three categories in the women cadre. To ensure that we have more competition in each weight, we have decided to invite three boxers in each weight,” Konyegwachie said.

    He disclosed that 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.

  • It was good seeing my players after 31 years – Brodricks-Imasuen

    Sebastian Brodricks-Imasuen would forever cherish every moment he spent during the award ceremony by President Muhammad Buhari yesterday as the former U-17 tactician was meeting members of the 1985 World Cup winning team against after more than three decades.

    The septuagenarian told NationSport that he would remain grateful for not allowing their labour to be wasted.

    “It was indeed a great moment for me in Abuja because the event provided an opportunity for me to see my players against after over 31 years. Some of them are now big and well-educated and for me it was indeed a very joyful moment. Particularly the honour has shown that the President is a man of his words with this gesture and I am happy that our efforts were appreciated even after more than 30 years,” he said.

    Also, captain of the 1985 winning U-17 side, Nduka Ugbade lauded the president for fulfilling the promise he made in 1985, adding that he has shown that he is a true leader and a man of his words.

    “I don’t think anybody has done this before and I must commend our president for what he has done and I believe this has restored hope for us athletes that our labour of heroes will not be in vain. I am very excited that most of my mates are here to witness this,” he said.

  • CHAN 2016: Niger’s win will spur Eagles against Tunisia – Amoo

    CHAN 2016: Niger’s win will spur Eagles against Tunisia – Amoo

    Coach Fatai Amoo is excited about the display of the Eagles against Niger at the ongoing CHAN 2016 in Rwanda and the assistant coach of the Olympics team believes the victory against the noisy neighbor would spur the team against Tunisia on Friday.

    Specifically, Amoo said that the performance of the players would surely bring a lot of competition into the main Super Eagles team.

    “I think the victory against Niger is a good start to the team and I believe this will help their confidence in their next group match against Tunisia. We cannot judge the Tunisians based on their 2-2 draw against Guinea because every match is not the same. I am sure that our players will curtail the Tunisia but we must be cautious of the style of the North Africans because they are good in counter attack. The Tunisians are also aware that if they lose against Nigeria, they might be on their way home, so we should not be carried away by the win against Niger but take each game serious and I am sure with the quality of the technical crew, the team is destine to qualify from the group,” the erstwhile 3SC gaffer said.

    He however said that the performance of some of the players would give the Eagles’ coach the opportunity to select some of them for the main team. “I am sure that some of them will surely play their way into the main team and this is good for the Eagles because it will give us the opportunity to have a solid bench and encourage healthy competition in the team. I am aware of the quality of the home-based Eagles and I know that if they are given the chance, they will shine and command shirts in the main team.”

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  • Quadri, Abiodun for ITTF World Tour in Hungary

    Quadri, Abiodun for ITTF World Tour in Hungary

    Nigeria’s players will be present when the first International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour tagged Hungarian Open serves off tomorrow with Aruna Quadri and Bode Abiodun competing in the men’s singles and doubles events.

    Already, Quadri has been listed among the 32 seeded players in the men’s singles while Abiodun will begin his campaign from the preliminary stage in order to secure a place in the main draw.

    However, before joining his compatriot, Quadri will lead his team – Jura Morez against Angers Vaillante in the French Premier League.

    The 2014 ITTF Star Player who departed his based in Lisbon, Portugal to France yesterday is hoping for another good outing against the star-studded Angers Vaillante side made up of top players like Sweden’s Jen Lundqvist and Jon Persson as well as France’s Christophe Legout and China’s Chen Jian.

    “I think I want to do well in the ITTF World Tour this year and reclaim my title in Africa as well as help Nigeria to do well at the World Championship. These are my priorities for this year and I believe with more hardwork and God’s grace, it will be achievable,” Quadri told NationSport.

    In the list of seeding, Quadri is rated number six and he will be campaigning from the main draw while he partner Abiodun to compete in the doubles event.

    The Hungarian Open is one of the major series tournament in the ITTF World Tour and it will take place in the capital city of Budapest from Wednesday January 20 to 24.

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  • Olympics: Nigeria, Egypt battle for continental slot

    Olympics: Nigeria, Egypt battle for continental slot

    The battle to clinch the continental sole ticket in the team event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be between Nigeria and Egypt as the two nations slug it out at the 2016 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Team Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    In the latest team ranking released by the world table tennis ruling body, Nigeria is ranked below Egypt and the performance of the team in Malaysia will determine its fate.

    In the Olympic ranking for the men’s team, Egypt is rated 28 while Nigeria occupies 33rd place based on the performance of each team in the last one year.

    Nigeria was able to close the gap on Egypt a bit following its victory over the Egyptian team at the 2015 African Games.

    In the women rating, Nigeria is still playing second fiddle to Egypt with the North African placing 32 while Nigeria is ranked 36th.

    According to ITTF Publications Editor, Ian Marshall, team with the highest rating in every continent including the top ranked in the world will get automatic qualification for the team event.

    Once the qualified players list has been determined by the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking, the process to decide the 16 teams for the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events will kick-start.

    A team comprises three players with each is continent – Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Oceania – is entitled to be represented.
    The first step is the highest listed National Olympic Committee from each continent on the May 2016 ITTF Olympic Team Ranking list, with a total of two qualified athletes for the singles events, receives an additional place from the Team Quota. The name of the player to fill the additional place is at the discretion of the relevant National Olympic Committees.
    If within a given continent no National Olympic Committee has two qualified athletes for the singles events, then the highest ranked team, based on the May 2016 ITTF Olympic Team Ranking list, with one athlete qualified, will receive two additional places from the Team Quota. 
    For the singles events, continental tournaments like the African Games and Qualifying tournament will determine the players that will make it to Rio from Africa.

    Marshall said by April, a total of 40 men and 40 women will have qualified while the next step in the process is the ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking Qualification.

    Commencing from January 2016, a monthly Olympic Singles Ranking, considering only eligible athletes for the Olympic Games, is published. 

  • ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri, Assar rivalry moves to Sudan

    ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri, Assar rivalry moves to Sudan

    In continuation of their 2015 fierce rivalry, two of Africa’s best table tennis players, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Egypt’s Omar Assar will next month in Khartoum, Sudan re-enact their competition at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Top 16 Cup.

      Despite being seeded ahead of Quadri in the December continental ranking released by the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Assar is aware of the task ahead of him having being humiliated in the French league by the 2014 ITTF Star Player last December.

      Quadri, who has fended off the pressure on him which affected most of his performance against the Egyptian in three major finals in 2015, is the right frame of mind to wrestle the dominance from the Egyptian.

      For the Sudan tournament, ATTF has confirmed Quadri and six-time Olympian, Segun Toriola as well as Olufunke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong as Nigeria’s flag-bearers.

      In the list of qualified released by ATTF, Quadri who won the tournament in 2014 in Lagos will battle for the title against his rival, Assar who has remained a threat to the Nigerian dominating the continent.

      The tournament is scheduled to hold on February 14 to 15 has the top 15 players in the continent including a player from the host country to complete the top 16.

      Toriola will join Quadri to compete for the laurel in the men’s event while Oshonaike who has already secured a place at this year’s Rio Olympic Games in Brazil will be joined in the women event by Edem Offiong who is at present plying her trade in the Portuguese elite league.

      Having claimed three titles in 2015, the Egyptian duo of Omar Assar and Dina Meshref top the list of invitees for the two-day tournament to be staged at the International Conference Centre in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan.

      Winners in the men and women events will represent the continent at the 2016 World Cups.

      The list of participants is: 

    Men:  Omar Assar (Egypt), Quadri Aruna (Nigeria), El-Sayed Lashin (Egypt), Saheed Idowu (Congo Brazzaville), Segun Toriola (Nigeria), Idir Khourta (Algeria), Suraju Saka (Congo Brazzaville), Olouwachehoun Guiganfode (Benin), Mawussi Agbetoglo (Togo), Sofiène Boudjadja (Algeria), Adem Hamam (Tunisia), Fessou Lawson-Gaizer (Togo), Alain Patrick Jague Niken Jiotsa (Cameroon), Derek Abrefa (Ghana), Emmanuel Ngwe Nikeng (Cameroon)

    Women: Dina Meshref (Egypt), Nadeen El-Dawlatly (Egypt), Han Xing (Congo Brazzaville), Olufunke Oshonaike (Nigeria), Offiong Edem (Nigeria), Sara Hanffou (Cameroon), Islem Laid (Algeria), Lynda Loghraibi (Algeria), Zodwa Maphanga (South Africa), Amma Liobaka (Democratic Republic of Congo), Onyinyechi Nwachukwu (Congo Brazzaville), Cynthia Kwabi (Ghana), Harriet Ntumnyuy (Cameroon), Celia baah-Danso (Ghana), Isabel Albino (Angola).

  • ITTF confirms Nigeria, others for World Championship

    ITTF confirms Nigeria, others for World Championship

    The world table tennis ruling body, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has confirmed Nigeria and 93 others for next month’s World Team Championships holding in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur from Sunday February 28 to Sunday March 6.

    Nigeria’s performance at the 2014 edition in Tokyo, Japan automatically qualified alongside its continental rival, Egypt as the only two nations from Africa that made it.

    However, Algeria, Congo Brazzaville, Congo DRC, Ghana, Morocco, Togo and Tunisia made the list of participants following their performance at the 2015 Africa Championship in Egypt.

    In the list of qualified countries confirmed by ITTF, over 74 countries will compete in the men’s event while 84 nations will battle for titles in the women’s cadre.

    Meanwhile, the Swaythling Cup and the Corbillon Cup at stake; China, the defending champions, occupies the top seeded positions in both the Men’s and Women’s events at the 2016 World Team Championships.

    In each of the Men’s Team and Women’s Team events there are four divisions. There are 24 outfits in each of the top three divisions; in Men’s Division Four, there are 22 teams, in Women’s Division Four, there are 12 teams.

    Teams in the Championship Division are seeded no.1 to no.24; in Division Two from no.25 to no.48, in Division Three from no.49 to no.72 and in Division Four from no.73 onwards.

    The teams that finished in the top 16 places at the ZEN-NOH 2014 World Team Championships in Tokyo are guaranteed a place in the Championship Division regardless of World Ranking.

    Meanwhile, the teams who finished in first and second places in the remaining divisions in Tokyo gain promotion to the next highest division.

    Teams promoted to the Championship Division are guaranteed a seeded position of no.23 and no.24 unless their current World Team ranking determines a higher place.

    The same principle applies to Division Two where the promoted teams are guaranteed a seeding of no.47 and no.48; also to Division Three where the minimal seeding is no.71 and no.72.
    Malaysia, as the hosts, has accepted the option of a place in the Championship Division in both the Men’s and Women’s events.
    England and Italy are the promoted outfits in the Men’s event, in the Women’s event it is Brazil and Sweden. The remaining places are allocated based on the current World Team ranking.

    Teams who finished in positions no.27 to no.40 at the ZEN-HOH 2014 World Team Championships receive an automatic place in Division Two, as do the teams who finished in places no.51 to no.64 in Division Three.

    Initially, in each event there are four groups with six teams in each group; teams finishing the first three places in each group progress to the main draw, teams finishing in the latter three places compete for the lower positions.

    Fixtures in the second stage are based on the knock-out principle.

    Seeding in every division is based on the World Team Ranking published for January 2016; the World Team Ranking for each national association is based on the three highest ranked players in that association named on the current Men’s and Women’s World Rankings.

    The draw for the Championship Division, Division Two and Division Three will take place at 3.00pm (local time) on Saturday 16th January at the Subang Grand Dorsett Hotel.

    Later, the draw for Division Four be conducted at 11.00am on Friday 26th February.

  • 2016 ITF/CAF AJC: Adetunji joins team

    2016 ITF/CAF AJC: Adetunji joins team

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    • Senegal, ITF official arrive for tournament

    Nigeria’s teenage sensation based in South Africa, Adetayo Adetunji will join the rest of the team at their training camp in Abuja on Wednesday just as Senegal becomes the first team to arrive for the 2016 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Africa Junior Championship Zonal Qualifiers holding in Abuja.

    Also today, the ITF Development Officer for West, North & Central Africa who will oversee the tournament on behalf of the world tennis ruling body, Morocco’s Amine Ben Makhlouf will arrive Abuja from his base in Casablanca, Morocco.

    Amine Ben Makhlouf was appointed ITF Development Officer for West, North & Central Africa in September 2005 and he is also the Director of the ITF African Training Centre in Casablanca, Morocco which opened in January 2013.

    Adetunji, who has been honing her skills at her base in Johannesburg in readiness for the tournament will join the 31 players in camp with the final selection of 24 expected to be made public tomorrow at noon.

    According to the national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, Adetunji would arrive Abuja aboard a South African Airways and he is expected to be received by the officials of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF).

    However, Angel McCleod yesterday left the camp to Enugu for the burial of her late mother which holds tomorrow. The departed mother of McCleod, Beauty was murdered last October by a trigger-happy policeman in Lagos and she will be buried tomorrow in Enugu.

    So far, Ubale said the players in camp have been given their best as every one of them wants to be part of the team. “I must tell you that we have been impressed with the response of the players to training as most of them are in good form. But we are not going to give preferential treatment to any player as everybody has equal chance to make the final list of 24. By noon on Thursday, the final 24-man that will represent Nigeria will be made known for the final phase of training before the kick-off on Saturday January 9,” Ubale admitted.

    Senegal, who has been training in Europe in readiness for the qualifiers are expected in Abuja today while other nations will arrive tomorrow before the kick-off on Saturday

  • Nigeria draws Madagascar, 14 others in 2016 Davis Cup tournament

    Despite its late withdrawal from the 2015 edition of the Davis Cup tournament, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) soft-pedal on possible sanction for Nigeria after drawing the west African giant with highly-rated Madagascar, Morocco and 13 others in the Africa Zone Group III of the championship.

    It was few days to the kick-off of the 2015 edition of the tournament in Cairo, Egypt that Nigeria made it withdrawal known to the world tennis ruling body and there were speculations that the West African side would be penalised. But with the conduct of the draw, it is clear that Nigeria may not be sanctioned after all.

    However, Nigeria’s quest for promotion to Group II will continue again in 2016 as they are expected to battle Group II relegated sides, Madagascar and Morocco and 13 others for places in the elite division.

    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.

    Besides the top rated teams like host – Madagascar and Morocco, other nations expected at the four-day tournament are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo DRC, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Mozambique, Namibia and Rwanda.

    The 16 countries are expected to be drawn into four groups while the matches will be played in round robin format with the winners of each group engaging in play-off against each other to determine the two nations that will be promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group II in 2017.

    Nigeria’s maiden appearance in the Davis Cup was in 1974, while the best putting for Nigeria was in 1988 and 1989 when it reached the semifinals stage in Group I.