Sports
Oduwole Upsets Jighere To Emerge Scrabble King
National champion, Olatunde Oduwole, last Sunday emerged Nigeria’s scrabble king after winning the Champion of Champions championship in Benin City, beating former world champion Wellington Jeghire in a hard-fought final match.
Oduwole won 2-1 to upset world No.4 Jighere, to claim the star prize of N500,000 and a giant trophy at the event, which held at the multi-purpose hall of Prestige Hotel.
Tidesports source reports that Douglas Ese won the youth event at the three-day event, which had 44 players vying for honours.
Oduwole admitted that it was a tough final game against Jighere.
“It was a crunchy final but I had better tiles to decide the game. I was very lucky to have won,” Oduwole said.
“It’s not easy playing against a world champion. We’ve met on different occasions and it is anybody who wins that decides the tournament. I could have lost today (Sunday) but I won because I was destined to win and not because I did anything extraordinary.”
“It was a marvelous championship with very stiff opposition, on the standard of the competition,” Oduwole added.
“I struggled from Table 17 and 16 at some point and thought it was all gone. But I crawled to the fore of the event and I maintained my position to win.”
President, Nigeria Scrabble Federation, Olabatoke Aka, expressed delight at the height the sport had attained globally.
“In the past, we had national champions and grandmasters, but the champion of champions is a variant. Previously, scrabble was not spectator-friendly but today, the game can now be viewed on our phones and TV. This event is very commendable,” he said.
Aka, however, lamented the lack of corporate sponsorships for the sport.
“The only people who sponsor scrabble are those who love the sport, the players of the game. We need to go out to advertise the sport. We need to capitalise on this event and broaden our scope.”
Edo State Sports Commission chairman, Godwin Dudu-Orumen,a special guest on the final day of the competition, said, “We are proud of the champion of champions competition.
“Scrabble produces good people, sound minds in sound bodies. We (Edo State) will take the sport to schools, starting from secondary schools, and we will continue to support the sport.”
Heartland Technical Manager, Emmanuel Amuneke has praised his players for not losing focus at the crucial moment in Sunday’s 2-1 home win over Shooting Stars in a NPFL Matchday 24 fixture in Owerri.
The Naze Millionaires defeated the Oluyole Warriors through Chukwuma Agor and John Bassey goals in the 31st and 88th minutes with Mustapha Adam’s 80th minute spot kick a mere consolation for the visitors.
Amuneke while speaking to journalists shortly after the encounter, said his boys showed the zeal and determination to seal the three points and that despite the shenanigans of the centre referee, Kolawole Emmanuel, the boys were never troubled.l
“We were eager to get the three points and we were aware Shooting Stars are a good side and won’t allow us to have our way easily,” Amuneke told journalists in Owerri.
“We planned for them and almost throughout the entire game, they were never a threat to our team. We were able to control the game from the beginning. It was unfortunate how the game ended. We were just focussed on the three points and we are thrilled we got it. It was a very good game from both sides but we subjected them to constant pressure almost throughout the game.”
While he was asked if he believed his boys could finish the season impressively, Amuneke was evasive but noted that he and his players would continue to work harder.
“Everything in line is possible but we know that nothing happens without hard work. We will continue to work harder and continue to see how we can grow as a team. We have a lot of young players in the team. Some of them just got their topflight breakthrough.
“We didn’t lose focus at the time of the controversies. We continued to do the same thing we have been doing and taking the game to them.”
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, turned the sod of the new Olympic-standard 25,000-capacity Bayelsa Stadium project at Igbogene, Yenagoa, as part of the activities marking the fifth anniversary of the Senator Douye Diri administration.
The former Nigerian leader performed the ground-breaking ceremony as Governor Diri restated his appeal to the federal government, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), oil firms operating in the state and the private sector to join hands with his administration to develop sporting talents.
The Federal Government through the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) equally thumped up Governor Diri for initiating the project.
Dr. Jonathan expressed delight over the project, saying as a Bayelsan, he was duty bound to celebrate with the state government for the progress so far achieved.
He lauded Diri’s developmental strides, urging him not to rest on his laurels and that the contractor and the state government should ensure the project met the highest standards.
Jonathan also called on the state and federal governments to set up a sports fund to cater for sportsmen after their active days and encourage younger ones to be involved in sports.
He said: “This is my state and I have to celebrate with the government for the progress so far made. This is an iconic project that will develop the state. Please do not rest on your laurels as we want this stadium to meet the best standards.
“I am happy with the presence of relevant federal government officials. I hope they will guide the state well and support where necessary.
“As a country, we must have a fund to care for sportsmen. The federal and state government can think about it so that the younger generation will be interested in sports.
“I am happy that you gave a target of 24 months and I hope that by that time I will escort President Tinubu to Bayelsa to inaugurate it.”
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has condoled the family of former Nigeria international midfielder, Ayo Ogunlana, who died in Kaduna on Friday after observing his early-morning walk.
NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, showered tributes on the departed midfield pearl, who was a star attraction during a number of important Nigeria FA Cup battles in the 1980s and held sway in the middle for the Super Eagles in the late 1980s, and at the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Algeria.
“We are very sad to learn of the sudden passing of Ayo Ogunlana, only a couple of weeks after the demise of another former Eagle, Moses Effiong (a member of the 1980 AFCON-winning Green Eagles squad, in far-away USA). Ogunlana was a great midfielder who made playing football look so easy with his majestic touches and turns, and his magnificent free-kicks.
“We pray that the Almighty will grant both of them eternal rest and grant the families they have left behind the fortitude to bear the losses.”
Ogunlana was magisterial in the midfield as Nigeria overhauled Guinea and Zimbabwe to qualify for the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations, and was imperial against Cameroon in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Ibadan that the Super Eagles won with an emphatic 2-0. He also played in the 1990 ECOWAS Cup competition that Nigeria hosted in Kaduna.