Sports
Sharks Secures First Away Victory
Women Judokas struggling for honours during a national event in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, recently.
Sharks football club of
Port Harcourt survived Kaduna united onslaught to pick a valuable three points on the road at the Ahmadu bello stadium on Wednesday.
The hard fought victory turned out to be the first away win for the Coach Gbenga Ogunbote tutored lads who went into the lead as early as the 10th minute when Christain Pyagbara latched onto a Fortune Omoniwari cross after so many failed attempts by the homers to shot into the lead.
The homers dominated possession after Pyagbara put Sharks in the lead and with the support from the few spectators at the stadium they looked good enough for an equalizer but the attackers lacked the cutting edge to draw level.
The homers came close to scoring in 27th minute with Isah Aminu in a world of his own in Sharks 6 yard box but the agility of Danladi Isah his name sake in Sharks goal ensured Isah Aminu could not restore parity for the home side.
Pyagbara and Omoniwari both had Glaring opportunities to stretch the game beyond Kaduna united but for their individualistic approach to the game.
And on the 42nd minute Pyagbara’s individual brilliance paid off after dribbling past three defenders before scoring his second of the day.
Second half saw a more enterprising Kaduna united running rings round Sharks defense while the visitors chased shadows in the middle of the pack and it was not too long Sharks defense caved in to the pressure in a goal mouth melee in the 53rd minute Samuel Agba effort.
Coach Gbenga Ogunbote described the victory as a well thought out plan by the team from the very start of the season.
“ The victory means a lot because we have been working towards it right from the beginning of the season”Ogunbote said.
“ We thank God we were able to get it now because it now shows that we can really get what we planned to get at the start of the season because if you really want to achieve success you must learn to win away from home
He attributed the defensive approach adopted by his boys in the second fourty five minutes to fear that referee antics will set in for the home team thereby piling pressure on the defence.
“They lost concentration because fear set in as they anticipated magic moments by the referee for the home team but kudos to the referee who stood his ground,Ogunbote said”.
“The homers forced us to play their game because my boys resorted to defensive play when the need did not even arise and we paid for it,”
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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