Sports
Kada Stars Consolidate Top Spot In Hockey League
Kada Stars of Kaduna last Wednesday consolidated on their top position at the ongoing National Hockey Super League in Abuja as they held defending champions Niger Flickers to a 1-1 draw.
Tidesports source reports that the league which flicked off on August 25 at the Asro-turf pitch of Package B National Stadium is expected to end tomorrow.
The Star game of match day five saw the defending champions, Niger Flickers come into the game desperately needing a win to stake their claim as top spot contenders, while Kada Stars looked to consolidate their lead as table toppers.
The Kaduna boys who could have slipped off from the top position had they lost to the defending champions opened the scoring in the 50th minute of the clash.
This was through a lovely field goal scored by Kelvin Linus after an intense 49 minutes of battle against the defending champions.
The three-time champions who lost to Stallions of Lagos by a lone goal on Tuesday however got a much needed late equalizer through Aliyu Idris in the 54th minute.
The goal ensured that the spoils were shared as Niger Flickers did not suffer back-to-back loses for the first time in the league.
The draw meant that Kada Stars consolidated on their position at the top of the log with just two games to the classification games.
In other games played last Wednesday, Yobe Desert Rollers beat Delta Force 2-1 thanks to goals from Bala Husseni and Adamu Sadiq.
Yobe Desert Rollers opened the scoring in the 9th minute through Husseni but Bernard Wilson powered Delta Force back in the 28th minute of the game.
The Yobe club side however got the winning goal through Sadiq in the 54th minute.
Sikiru Salawu scored all three goals in Stallions’ 3-2 scrappy win against IGP Flickers.
Salawu scored his first-two goals in the 15th and 32nd minutes before Awasa Augustine pulled one back in the 35th minute from a well converted penalty corner.
Salawu completed his hat-trick when he stepped up to convert a penalty stroke awarded after Ezekiel Faluyi was brought down by IGP Flickers goalie.
Bala Emmanuel reduced the deficit in the 51st minute to ensure the game ended with supporters of both teams on the edge of their seats.
The Stallions however looked like a shadow of the side that put up an excellent performance against defending champions Niger Flickers on match day four as they were unimpressive against IGP Flickers.
In the last game of the day, Police Machine beat 3-2 Nasarawa Flickers.
With just two precise passes, Police Machine went in front as Tosin Adekeye scooped a ball from 50 yards out which found Mohammed Inuwa who drove in and finished with aplomb.
Two minutes after he scored his first goal, Mohammed Inuwa scored his second in the 16 minutes but Nasarawa Flickers pulled one back in the 19th minute through Usman Mustapha.
Inuwa completed his hat-trick when he scored again in the 37th minute from a penalty corner.
Nasarawa Flickers refused to go down without a fight as they reduced the deficit in 56th minute through Godwin Sunday from a penalty corner.
Tidesports source also reports that the win catapulted Police Machine into the second position on the eight team log with 11 points, two behind table toppers Kada Stars.
Defending champions, Niger Flickers are third with 10 points, while Stallions are fourth with nine points.
Sports
We’ll use Sports to Promote Peace, create Wealth in Tai…Chairman.
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.
Sports
NBA train youths, coaches in Nigeria
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.
Sports
BFN Hold Clinic to Empower Coaches
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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