Sports
Enyimba, First To Qualify For Champions League Semis
Nigeria’s Enyimba International FC became the first team to qualify for the African Champions League semi-finals with a dramatic 2-1 win in Sudan over Al Hilal at the weekend.
Samuel Tswanya scored a last-minute penalty to give Enyimba the win and lift them to 11 points from their five Group A games so far.
On Saturday, Esperance joined Enyimba in the semi-finals after the Tunisians thumped Algeria’s Mouloudia Alger 4-0 at home in Group B.
Enyimba made it through despite trailing to an early Hilal goal from the competition’s top scorer Edward Sadomba, but Valentine Nwaebili cancelled that out midway through the second half.
Cameroon’s Coton Sport then moved into second spot in Group A on Saturday with a 2-1 win over visiting Raja Casablanca of Morocco.
After Bouchaib Eel-Moubarki had given Raja an 18th-minute lead, a second-half double from Baba Ousmaila secured the victory.
The result takes Coton Sport level with Hilal on seven points, but the Cameroonians have the better head-to-head goal difference.
Both Hilal and Coton Sport are away from home this weekend in their final group games as they both battle for a semi-final place.
The Cameroonians travel to face Enyimba while the Sudanese side take on Raja Casablanca in Morocco.
In Group B, Esperance sealed their place in the last four thanks to a hat-trick from Joseph Ndjeng.
After Mejdi Traore broke the deadlock nine minutes into the home clash with Mouloudia Alger, Cameroon’s Ndjeng struck in the 19th, 43rd and 60th minutes.
Esperance’s win means that six-time champions Al Ahly will be eliminated should they lose to Wydad Casablanca in Morocco.
If that happens, Ahly will be joining Egypt’s national team in the African football wilderness after the champions failed to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The Cairo-based club, who was without midfielder Hossam Ghaly (suspended) and Mohamed Barakat (injured), has not scored in its last four matches.
Wydad have been starring in the group phase, sharing six goals with Ahly in Cairo, firing four past Mouloudia, coming from two goals behind at home to hold Esperance and forcing a draw away to the same side.
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.