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Glamorous ending at revived Ikoyi Club National Badminton Classics
It was almost a first time experience for most of the players as the third edition of the Ikoyi Club Badminton Classics ended in grand style last Saturday.
The championship had just been revived after it was last held 24 years ago, meaning that most of the players were not born when it was last held in 1999.
It turned a worthwhile experience as being a classic, only the ranked players were eligible to participate. In this case, only the first 16 ranked players were involved.
It was a thriller from beginning to the end. The opening round was a round robin leading to the quarter-finals which produced the usual suspects – Anuoluwapo Opeyori Juwon (Lagos), Hansen Bello (Oyo), Victor Ikechukwu (Rivers) and Aliyu A.Shehu (Niger) – who proceeded to the semi-finals in the Men’s Singles.
The Women’s Singles event was equally thrilling. Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan (Ogun), Ruth Chinenye Over (Edo), Sofiyat Arinola Obanishola (Rivers) and Deborah Ukeh Divine (Edo) were the survivors in the quarter finals who clichéd the semi final berths.
At this stage, experience spoke loud. Anuoluwapo Opeyori Juwon secured a comfortable win over Habeeb Temitope Bello (Oyo) 21-8, 21-7 (2-0) while Victor Ikechukwu (Rivers) was able to overcome Aliyu Alhaji Shehu (Niger) 21-18, 21-19 (2-0) to proceed to the title match in the Men’s Singles.
In the Woman’s Semifinals, Dorcas A. Adesokan won over Ruth C.Ibere 21-13, 21-15 (2-0) while Sofiyat A.Obanishola (Rivers) triumphed over Deborah Ukeh Divine (Edo) 21-18, 21-10 (2-0) to book a spot in the final.
The title fights were titanic. Anuoluwapo Opeyori Juwon (Lagos) was able to edge out Victor Ikechukwu (Rivers) 23-21, 17-21, 21-11 (2-1) to win the Men’s Singles title.
In the Women’s Singles, Dorcas A.Adesokan (Ogun) was also able to prevail over Sofiyat A.Obanishola of Rivers to win the gold.
During the prize giving, awards and presentations that followed, Oba Adedapo Tejuoso was inducted into the Nigerian Badminton Hall of Fame as the first inductee. It was in recognition of his unwavering dedication and invaluable contribution to the development of badminton in Nigeria and Africa.
The Prize money was as follows:-
Men’s Singles:
1st = N500,000
2nd = N300,000
Joint 3rd & 4th = N150,000 each
5th – 8th = N100,000 each
9th – 16th = N50,000 each
Women’s Singles:
1st = N500,000
2nd = N300,000
Joint 3rd & 4th = N150,000 each
5th – 8th = N100,000 each
9th – 16th = N50,000 each.
One of the sponsors of the event, Mirror Homes Investment gave title documents for half plots of land in their estate in Lagos to each of the Men’s and Women’s singles winners.
The President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Francis Orbih expressed his delight at the resounding success of the championship and conveyed the appreciation and gratitude of the Badminton Federation under his leadership and of the players for this great support.
He also reiterated the Board’s resolve to go the extra mile in making all avenues of development of the game and players are explored.
UEFA appears poised for an emergency vote on suspending Israel from European competition next week, with national federations scrambling to position themselves amid mounting political pressure following calls for action.
The brewing crisis intensified this week when United Nations experts called for Israel’s suspension from international football amid the unfolding genocide in occupied Palestinian territory.
A source confirmed that Europe’s soccer body could potentially decide next week to vote on whether to suspend Israel from European competition.
Should UEFA vote to ban Israel, it would put the organisation on a collision course with the government of the United States — co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup — which is vehemently against such a motion.
“We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup,” a spokesperson for the U.S. state department told Sky News.
But even though UEFA has the power to suspend Israel or its clubs from their competitions, it may not be able to stop them from competing in World Cup qualifiers, which fall under the ambit of global soccer body FIFA.
The general secretaries of all UEFA national associations are meeting this week in Marbella, where Israel is not officially on the agenda, but officials expect UEFA to call an emergency vote next week.
FIFA did not respond to a Reuters request for comment while UEFA declined to comment.
Palestinian Football Association president Jibril Rajoub said Israelis should not be allowed to participate in any matches, whether they are under UEFA or FIFA.
“Israel has violated the principles, values and FIFA’s statutes. Therefore, I believe that Israel should be sanctioned,” Rajoub told TV2.
“The sanctions should come from UEFA and FIFA.”
WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Israel’s national team are set to face Norway and Italy, the top two teams in their World Cup qualifying group, next month.
“We don’t have any indications that we are facing such an act (UEFA suspension),” a spokesperson for the Israel Football Association told Reuters.
“We are focusing on our international matches against Norway and Italy.”
Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) is one of the member associations that have been the driving force behind calling for a meeting on the Israel situation. The NFF declined to comment.
Lise Klaveness, the president of the NFF and a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, has also been vocal about the crisis in Gaza ahead of her country’s home game against Israel on October 11.
“Neither we nor other organisations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time,” Klaveness said in a statement last month.
“We want to donate the proceeds (from the game) to a humanitarian organisation that saves lives in Gaza every day and provides active emergency aid on the ground.”
The Dutch football federation (KNVB) said it knows nothing about a vote to suspend Israel.
“As soon as the football association receives a message about this, it will take a position,” the KNVB told Dutch outlet NOS.
Last week, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Israel should be banned from international sports competitions. However, officials from the Spanish FA (RFEF) have kept a low profile on the matter.
Israel maintains that its war is not against the population of Gaza but against the Hamas militant group whose fighters led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and precipitated the war.
The subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people, according to local health officials.
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A hat-trick from George Agha and a sublime free-kick goal from David Edeh ensured a comfortable start for five-time world champions Nigeria in the WAFU-B U17 Championship, as the Golden Eaglets routed Baby Cheetahs of Benin Republic 4 -1 in Yamoussoukro on Wednesday.
Agha converted from the spot three minutes into the game after Boluwatife Thompson was hacked inside the box.
Edeh displayed fantastic football artistry to score from a free-kick in the 5th minute of the encounter.
The Eaglets were in cruise control as Agha bagged his brace in the 14th minute. The charges of Manu Garba were very dominant with a three-goal advantage.
Warris Soumanou in goal for Benin Republic was caught napping and his error of judgement gave the Eaglets another goal after a beautiful exchange of passes and dribbles between Thompson and Edeh, which set up Agha for his hat-trick in the 32nd minute.
It was raining goals and it was the turn of the Beninoise in the 45th minute, as a low drive from Jeremy Zannou gave the Baby Cheetahs a consolation goal.
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Mohamed Salah’s dramatic stoppage-time penalty ensured Liverpool maintained their winning start to the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory at promoted side Burnley on Sunday.
With British record signing Alexander Isak forced to wait for his Liverpool debut having been left out the squad for the trip to Lancashire, the champions struggled to break down a dogged home side in the first half.
After a regroup at the break, the visitors upped the ante in the second half, with Dominik Szoboszlai finally forcing a fine save from Martin Dubravka in the Burnley goal.
Burnley were holding on for a well-earned point with ease, before the ball agonisingly struck substitute Hannibal Mejbri’s arm in the penalty area and Salah slotted the spot kick into the net in the 95th minute to break home hearts.
Liverpool are still to really get going this season, requiring a winner in the last 10 minutes of all four of their league victories so far. The goal that clinched an undeserved success at Turf Moor was certainly the most fortunate.
After one of the longest transfer sagas in Premier League history finally reached its expected conclusion, Liverpool supporters were forced to wait two weeks for their first glimpse of their 125-million-pound ($169.45-million) goal machine due to the international break.
While coach Arne Slot said this week that Isak would have to be utilised carefully due to his previous injuries and lack of action so far this season, the Swede was still expected to at least be on the bench at Turf Moor.
The wait goes on as, without their expensive new forward, Liverpool mustered just one shot on target in the first half, from left-back Andrew Robertson.
Burnley, who conceded the fewest goals in English football league history last term to earn them promotion, otherwise frustrated the champions with ease. Even Lesley Ugochukwu’s red card for two bookings in the 84th minute did not seem to fluster them.
Even without Isak, Liverpool still had much attacking talent on the Turf Moor pitch but they just could not find that killer pass.
Salah was especially below par but he made no mistake in the most pressurised moment after Hannibal had stuck up an arm to block Jeremie Frimpong’s cross
The champions’ impressive Premier League goalscoring streak stretches to 38 games nonetheless, their longest such run in the competition.
-Reuters
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