Sports
Emmanuel Retains CBN Title, Quadre Emerges Champion
Defending champion and top seed Sylvester Emmanuel outclassed six-timeschampion Abdulmumin Babalola 6-4 6-4 to retain his CBN Senior Tennis Open Championship at the weekend in Abuja.
The men’s final which took place on the Centre Court of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, saw Babalola not fully himself.
Babalola who edged second seed Joseph Imeh 3-6 7-6 6-4 in their grueling semi-final fixture on Friday was obviously suffering from fatigue.
In spite of his enterprise and determination, Babalola lost the first set 4-6 to Emmanuel, who seemed to have taken to court with a definite game plan against his opponent.
In the second game, Emmanuel was cruising to victory but Babalola persevered and appeared to want to replicate how he won his semi-final game.
However, Emmanuel had other plans and knew he had to keep calm and take his chances to avoid taking the game to a third set.
He kept his calm and took the set 6-4 to beat Babalola to the title in two consecutive CBN Open finals and deny him a record-equaling seventh title.
In the women’s final, new kid on the block, Oyinlola Quadre, was too good for veteran Christie Agugbom.
She earned a routine 6-1 6-0 victory, with the win presenting her with her maiden title at the tournament.
Quadre, 16, who had been in her devastating best throughout the tournament, took only 40 minutes to disperse Agugbom and wrap up what was an awesome all-round performance.
Tidesports source reports that students of at least five schools within the FCT were mobilised to the venue of the finals ostensibly to add colour to the event.
At a brief medal-presentation ceremony, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, said the bank was committed to making good use of Nigerian youths’ energy through sports.
Represented by CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okoroafor, Emefiele congratulated the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) and participants at the tournament.
He also disclosed that the 41-year-old CBN tennis tournament would be scaled up in the coming years.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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