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NIGERIA BADMINTON TEAM SHINES IN ALGERIA
Gradually, Nigeria is bouncing back into continental reckoning in badminton as the country’s contingent to the All Africa Individual Badminton Championship in Algeria won a total of five medals.
The shades of the medals are three silver and two bronze. Team Nigeria finished second in both the Men and Women’s events losing to hosts Algeria in the Men’s final and Mauritius in the Women’s final of the Thomas and Uber Cup.
It was a commendable outing as 19 countries featuring 86 players participated in the Men’s singles event.
Nigeria’s Habeeb Temitope Bello is therefore the second best among the 86 players. He lost to the gold medallist, Georges Julien Paul who won 21-16, 15-2, 21-13 in the final match.
Similarly in the women’s category, Nigeria’s Dorcas Adesokan lost in the singles final to another Mauritanian Kate Kune Foo.
The women’s category of the competition had 14 countries in attendance and 59 participants indicating that Adesokan was the second in a pool of 59 players.
In another Nigeria versus Mauritania final, Kune won a tough encounter 21-16, 21-19 to emerge women’s singles champion. The ever strong willed partnership of Abah Enejo and Peace Orji secured Nigeria’s third silver medal of the competition losing in the mixed doubles final to the host country, Algeria who featured the duo of Koceila Mammeri and Linda Mazri to win 21-17, 15-21, 21-12.
Peace Orji got herself another medal winning bronze in the women’s doubles event alongside Zainab Momoh.
Nigeria’s second bronze medal of the competition came from NSCDC player Clement Krobapor who finished third in the Men’s singles final.
Meanwhile, President Badminton Federation of Nigeria Francis Orbih in a chat with www.badmintonnigeria.org assured that the players and the coaches will work harder to get to dominate the Sport in Africa.
Orbih also admitted that the Badminton Federation of Nigeria have enough time to prepare for the next Thomas and Uber Africa qualifier in 2020 and pursue qualification for the Olympics in Japan.