Sports
Pirates Stretch Lead, Sundowns Held In PSL
Orlando Pirates increased their lead at the top of the South African Premiership table to two points yesterday despite being held 0-0 at home by struggling Bidvest Wits. The Buccaneers disappointing performance at Orlando Stadium came a couple of hours after long-time pacesetters Mamelodi Sundowns suffered a second straight loss when going down 1-0 at bottom-half Maritzburg United.
It was the second goalless league draw within four days for title holders Pirates and the second defeat in the same period for record five-time champions Sundowns. SuperSport United, who won three titles in a row before surrendering the crown to Pirates last season, gained most from the front runners’ slip-ups as they climbed to third place with a 2-1 home win over Ajax Cape Town.
Moroka Swallows, Free State Stars and Kaizer Chiefs are also in contention with four rounds left after this weekend. Former African champions Pirates have 48 points, Sundowns 46, SuperSport 45, Swallows 43, Free State 42 and Chiefs 40 with Swallows having one game in hand and Chiefs two games.
With 11 points from their last five matches, Pirates were hot favourites to overcame a Wits side that has taken just one point from the same number of games, but the thrilling title chase took another unexpected turn. Backed by impressive Zimbabwean goalkeeper Energy Murambadoro, Wits defence stood firm with Ugandan Timothy Batabaire shackling former Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United striker Benni McCarthy.
Maritzburg followed up a shock midweek triumph over Chiefs by defeating Sundowns 1-0 in Indian Ocean city Port Elizabeth with Zimbabwean striker Cuthbert Malajila once more the match-winner. He broke Chiefs’ hearts with a late winner and left it even later against Mamelodi, getting behind the defence and beating goalkeeper Calvin Marlin at his near post nine minutes from time at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
SuperSport came from behind to edge Ajax 2-1 in northern city Polokwane with Malawian substitute Atusaye Nyondo grabbing the 84th-minute winner and Rowen Fernandez denying Matthew Booth a late equaliser through an acrobatic save.
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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