Sports
Super Six: Delta Queens Beat Rivers Angels
Delta Queens of Asaba at
the weekend in Abuja, clinched the Women Football League Super Six trophy for the third time running, winning the trophy for keeps.
They won the 2011 edition after a 1-0 victory over defending champions, Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt in the final match of the five-day competition held at the Abuja National Stadium.
In the competition’s final match, the Delta Queens dislodged Rivers Angels with a clinical display that kept their opponents on the back foot most of the time.
Ahead of the match, league defending champions Rivers Angels had led the competition since Match day One and only needed a draw to win the title.
But Delta Queens who won the 2008 and 2009 Super Six titles were more adventurous through Vera Okolo, Sike Promise and Desire Oparanozie who kept their opponents’ defence line busy.
They thus dominated the game and even missed a lot of scoring chances through Promise and Oparanozie, while the Rivers Angels missed a couple of theirs through Ebere Orji and Stella Mbachu.
However, Delta Queens took full charge in the 69th minute when Promise’s right flank corner-kick was headed into goal by Oparanozie at the far end for the game’s lone goal.
Rivers Angels’ fight back was immediate but ineffective, despite efforts by substitute Mercy Ameneze, Blessing Edoho, Stella Mbachu, Orji Rebecca Kalu and Oyinyechi Ohaduga.
Match captain Joy Jegede was, however, a rock in the Delta Queens defence line, as she kept the opponents in check throughout the second half when they fought back.
Delta Queens thus finished with 13 points from five matches, after four wins and one draw, and after scoring 10 goals and conceding two.
Rivers Angels dropped to second with 12 points from four wins and a loss, after scoring 10 goals and conceding two goals also.
Earlier in the day, Pelican Stars of Calabar had drawn 1-1 with Bayelsa Queens of Yenagoa to upstage Kogi Confluence of Lokoja and finished third in the competition.
Enoch Umoh had given the Yenagoa side a third minute lead only for Ugo Njoku to draw Pelican Stars level midway into the second half for them to finish on seven points.
Kogi Confluence placed fourth with six points, while Bayelsa Queens finished fifth with three points and Sunshine Queens had placed last with one point.
The competition which was held at the astro-turf pitch of the Abuja National Stadium’s FIFA Goal Project did not hold in 2010.
The competition had the top three teams in the two groups of the 2010/2011 Women Professional League taking part.
They are Rivers Angels who topped Group B of the league’s 2010/2011 competition ahead of second-placed Delta Queens and Bayelsa Queens.
The rest are Sunshine Queens who topped Group A, ahead of Pelican Stars and Kogi Confluence.
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.