Tag: Zenith Bank

The organisers of the Zenith Bank /Delta Principals Cup are happy with the turnout of the competition just as the tournament continues today at various centres in Delta State.

On October 19, Osadenis Mixed Secondary School, Asaba defeated Ugbolu Secondary School, Ugbolu, in Oshimili South 4-1 in the official Kick Off match which signalled the start of the 6th edition of the competition.

CEO of Hideaplus, Tony Pemu, at the weekend said the opening ceremony was a huge success at the St. Patrick College in Asaba.

 “It was like a carnival. The kids were happy and the officials are also working hard to ensure a good outing in the tournament. The joy in the faces of the young lads was enough to tell that we are in for a good event. The opening match itself was also very exciting,” he said.

Pemu also added that the registration for this year’s event is the highest in the history of the competition so far.

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He noted that because schools were asked to register online, it helped many to easily comply even without leaving their respective bases.

 “We are glad that the digitalization worked like magic. Many schools registered online and as at the close of registration, some again came to us to beg with manual registration.

 “After technical meetings, we had to accept them and helped to input their data into system. We are so happy this is happening. Let me not put a figure to it but this is definitely the highest so far,” Pemu added. 

Preliminary matches will continue in various parts of the 25 Local Government areas in the state today.

*MFM win 2023 elite league

It was great news for women’s basketball in Nigeria after it was announced yesterday that the sponsors of the women’s league in Nigeria, Zenith Bank Plc, has decided to add the Division 1 to the league they will be sponsoring in the country.

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Making the announcement during the halftime of the last game of the 2023 Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League between Nigerian Customs and MFM, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Musa Kida, expressed his appreciation to Zenith Bank for coming to their aid again.

“It is with great pleasure for me to announce that Zenith Bank Plc has decided to bankroll the Division 1 league for women in Nigeria,” he said.”It is a way of further going to the grassroots to get players for the elite division, it’s a welcome development for the development of women basketball in Nigeria.”

From tomorrow October 17, the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, will witness the battle of the best four at the 2023 Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League.

The season which started a few months ago saw two teams – Nigerian Customs and Air Warriors emerging from the Savannah Conference while MFM Women Basketball Club and Bayelsa Blue Whales made it to the final from the Atlantic Conference.

Nigerian Customs brave the odds in their conference, winning all their games to come to Lagos unbeaten and will be looking forward to winning the title in the absence of perennial winner, First Bank of Lagos, who falter during the second phase of the Atlantic Conference in Asaba, Delta State.

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Air Warriors’ ambition of retaining the title will be put to test in Lagos after losing both games against Nigerian Customs in the first and second phase of the Savannah Conference while MFM will be hoping to make it second time lucky after finishing second in the last edition of the league.

Bayelsa Whales, established less than a year ago, will be targeting a good finish to their journey as they already performed beyond expectations, getting to the finals in their maiden season.

The first game will be between Nigerian Customs and debutants Bayelsa Blue Whales with the two teams that played the last edition final, Air Warriors and MFM Women slugging it out

On Wednesday, October 18, it will be another battle of supremacy between the two top teams from each conference, Nigerian Customs and Air Warriors while MFM takes on Bayelsa Whales.

The final day of the three-day competition will see the Customs up against MFM and Air Warriors wrapping up the season with a game against Bayelsa Whales.

The MD/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, lauded the teams that started the competition while also reiterating the commitment of the financial institution to sports.

Organisers of the annual Zenith Bank/Delta Principals Cup have released the timeline for the developmental football competition.

The grassroots football tourney is organized for all secondary schools in Delta State with Hideaplus as the organisers of the event sponsored by Zenith Bank Plc in conjunction with the Delta State Government.

Friday October 13 is already set as the date for the commencement of the online registration for all schools in various Local Government areas in the state.

The Commissioner for Basic Secondary schools in Delta State, Rose Esewu, is expected to address the press on the state of readiness for the tournament.

A day after, the official kick off will take place at the St. Patrick College in Asaba, with the Executive Governor of Delta State, Sherif Oborevwori, expected to be in attendance.

Preliminaries of the tournament take place between October 20 and November 10 while zonal eliminations take place between November 20th  and 22nd .

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Quarterfinals and semis of the event are billed for November 24th  and 27th  respectively while the Third Place and final match for this edition will be held on November 30th at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba. 

Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, said it was always a delight staging developmental events.

“We love to develop talents and so getting the young ones busy to exhibit their potential is always our motive. We always try to catch them young and groom talents for Nigeria in various sports especially football and basketball.

“Putting smiles on the faces of young ones gives us joy at Zenith Bank and so this competition is important to us,” Onyeagwu said.

MFM Women Basketball Club braved all the odds to qualify for the finals after the conclusion of the second phase of the Atlantic Conference of the Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League as the grand finale is scheduled to take place in Lagos later this month.

The last edition’s runners up was in third position going to the second phase with First Bank and Bayelsa Whales already ahead of them, but everything turned around in Asaba, as they won all their five games, defeating both First Bank and Bayelsa Whales to emerge the best team in phase two.

First Bank was the most disappointing team of the second phase, winning just a game as they failed to qualify for the finals while Bayelsa Whales joined MFM for a shot at the title in Lagos.

MFM’s Favour Eric said they really worked hard to achieve their goal of making it to the finals.

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MFM, set up a few years ago, will be making their second appearance in the finals while Bayelsa Whales, formed less than a year ago will be making their first appearance at the finals.

Last edition champions, Air Warriors and former champion, Nigerian Customs already qualified from the Savannah Conference and the four will battle for the coveted trophy at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, later in the month.

Sponsors, Zenith Bank Plc and the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) have declared readiness for the finals which will involve just the best four teams unlike the eight teams that used to compete in the past.

It was another bad day for the First Bank Basketball team after suffering their second loss of the ongoing second phase of the Atlantic Conference of the Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League taking place in Asaba, Delta State.

After going through the first phase without a loss and starting the second phase with a win against IGP Queens, First bank were surprisingly defeated by Sunshine Angels in their second game.

MFM, who were the runners up of the last edition yesterday compounded First Bank’s woes as the Olukoya girls won by 40-35 margin to boost their chances of qualifying for the finals in Lagos later in the month.

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Bayelsa Whales at the moment top the conference after making it three wins from three games played and will be up against MFM who also recorded three wins in the second phase of the conference.

Today, First Bank will be up against eliminated Dolphins while it will be another battle between Sunshine Angels and IGP Queens.

The two top teams from the Atlantic Conference will join Nigerian Customs and Air Warriors from the Savannah Conference in the finals in Lagos.

The second Phase of the National Women’s Basketball League sponsored by Zenith Bank starts today in Lafia with six teams jostling for the two slots available for finals.

Lafia City Hall, Shendam Road, Lafia, Nasarawa State is the venue of this decisive second Phase billed to end on September 24 after a round robin contest.

Already the organisers, the Nigeria Basketball Federation and the sponsors, Zenith Bank have expressed readiness and also gave assurances that the women’s league would be hitch-free all though the week.

Jos, Plateau State, was the host of the First Phase with Customs topping with five wins in five games while defending Champions, Air Warriors, came second with four wins in five games.

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Plateau Rocks and Nigeria Army with three and two wins respectively in the same number of games will have to double efforts to be in contention for the two tickets available in the zone for the finals billed for Lagos. Nasarawa Amazons (one win) and Kada Stars (no win) respectively are off the radar in the race for finals but will still feature in Lafia for the second face.

All eyes will no doubt be on Customs and Air Warriors for a straight fight on who wins the Savannah Conference also to see if they can maintain their top two position to book tickets to be in the finals in Lagos.

Four teams will feature in the finals next month in Lagos with two more expected to join from the Atlantic Conference.

The second Phase of the Atlantic Conference starts in Asaba, Delta State, on October 2 while the final takes between October 17 and 21. 

The Nigeria Basketball Federation has maintained that the dunk-off date  for the Second Phase of the Savannah Conference of the 2023 Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League remains sacrosanct as all the clubs are getting ready for the September 18 date.

The NBBF had announced September 18 to 24 for the second phase at the Lafia City Hall, Shendam Road, Lafia, Nasarawa State and now reiterated the fact that the body will not change the date.

The First Phase which took place in Jos saw Customs topping with five wins in five games while defending Champions, Air Warriors, came second with four wins in five games.

Plateau Rocks and Nigeria Army with three and two wins respectively in the same number of games will have to double efforts to be in contention for the two tickets available in the zone for the finals billed for Lagos. Nasarawa Amazons (one win) and Kada Stars (no win) respectively are off the radar in the race for finals but will still feature in the second face for pride.

President of NBBF, Musa Kida, said all was ready for a successful competition.

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“We are ready and all the teams are getting ready to move to Lafia for the second phase,” Kida said.”The September 18 date is sacrosanct because we have our schedule since the start of the First Phase.”

He however explained the reasons why the Second Phase of the Atlantic Conference was postponed.

According to him, the change in date of the National Youth Games coming up at the same venue of the Atlantic Conference, the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Delta State, compelled the federation to change the date from September 18 to October 2.

Also, the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, urged all the teams to be at their best while also applauding the organisation of the two conferences.

He added: “This is our prime sports event and we are happy the ladies are having fun again. We are always ready to contribute to the development of sports and the years of absence were not deliberate but due to issues beyond our control.”

The Phase 1 of the NBBF/Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League came to an end with two teams maintaining a winning streak in the two centres.

Nigeria Customs and First Bank of Lagos are the two teams with impressive runs to show intention of making it to Lagos for the national finals billed for October.

In Akure, First Bank Basketball team defeated all the other teams in the Atlantic Zone to remain unbeaten after five games.

Only yesterday, First Bank defeated home team Sunshine Angels 51-32 to confirm their supremacy in the zone.

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On the other hand, IGP Queens and Dolphins are the teams walking tight rope after losing three matches respectively out of five.

Interestingly, the two teams met yesterday with the IGP Queens winning 62-54 to boost their standing on the ladder.

MFM and Bayelsa Whales are other teams with impressive runs and also on the cards to fight for the two tickets at stake after Phase 2.

In Jos, the Nigeria Customs have been in devastating form, beating all other teams in the Savannah Conference.

Customs in a crucial Match Day 2, Customs defeated defending Champions Air Warriors 64-48 to remain unbeaten and went ahead to ruthlessly beat Nigeria Army 78-32. They also defeated Nasarawa Amazons 60-41 on Match Day four. In the opening Match Day, Customs won 73-32 against Kada Angels.

The President of the NBBF, Musa Kida, has assured that the ongoing new style of the national women league is the best for the game.

“The teams are playing in a home and away format and it means that there is a second chance to ensure teams can still battle for the final slot. Only four teams will be in Lagos and it will be huge fun for all the participants and lovers of the game,” Kida said.