Sports
Rivers Weighting Records Excite Coach… Scores Nigeria’s Standard Low
Team Rivers’ weightlifting coach, Ojadi Aduche was relieved after one of his lifters, Caroline Okonkwo registered the team on the medals table in the event. The lifter, who was full of confidence as competition in the women’s 63kg class went on at the Brai Ayanote gymnasium went on, won three gold medals to improve Rivers state’s total haul last weekend, to16gold, eight silver andsix bronze medals, one gold medal more than rival, Delta State.
Okonkwo lifted a total of 96kg to win gold in the snatch event, 118kg in Clean and Jerk to make a total score of 214 to claim two more gold.
Victoria Adesanmi of Akwa Ibom finished second to win three silver medals, while hosts, Lagos State claimed bronze.
Speaking after the event coach Aduche said that he was a relieved man to have seen his team finally make the gold list.
He said that he had wanted Okonkwo to go after the event’s national record but an unfortunate knee injury forced them to concentrate on just winning the events.
Aduche, a Commonwealth gold medalist, said that he was targeting at least nine gold medals in weightlifting as the festival continues.
According to him, however, Delta State has been a thorn in their flesh. “We are trying to counter Delta team, they are working very hard here, in fact, they are good. After we won in Port Harcourt last year, they went back and did their home work, they have come up very strong here, but it is not over until it is over, we shall do our best”, the coach said.
It will be recalled that Team Delta captured a total of Eight gold medals in Weight lifting last Saturday.
On the overall standard of weightlifting in the country, Ojadi said that the game was not as good as it used to be. “The performance has gone down and the game is not making much progress, this is attributable to the eligibility rule governing the National Sports Festival”
He stated that the fact that lifters become ineligible after some appearances and have to switch to other sports to make ends meet negatively affects quality in the sport.
Sports
CAA Wants Ghana To Host 2026 Athletics Champions
The Confederation of African Athletics has invited Ghana to bid for the hosting rights of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, following a successful athletics event at the just concluded 2023 African Games.
President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, stated this and expressed confidence in the transformative potential of the Legon Stadium for athletes and Ghana’s bid to host international competitions.
With a capacity of 11,000, the Legon Stadium played a pivotal role in the recent African Games, hosting both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as various sporting events including athletics, football, and rugby.
Fuseini highlighted the success of the athletics events held at the stadium, which contributed to Ghana winning six medals.
“We have already started getting requests from the Confederation of African Athletics to bid for the 2026 African Athletics Championships.
“When they came and saw what we have put in place and the level of organisation, they told me that for the last 20 years, they’ve never seen any organisation like this before. We did three official courses. And the last one, we had 110, all of them passed. We had a lot of officials and equipment.”
Since its establishment in 1979, Ghana has never hosted the African Athletics Championships, with Nigeria being the host country twice, in 1989 and 2018.
This year, Cameroon will take the reins as the host nation, with the event set to be held at the Olembe Stadium.
Sports
Onigbinde Not Sacked – Chairman
Chairman of Doma United, Suleiman Umar, has said head, coach Akinade Onigbinde was not relieved of his duties after the club announced former Kwara United, Niger Tornadoes and Katsina United coach, Abubakar Bala, as an addition to their technical crew.
Bala was announced as the technical adviser by the club on Wednesday.
According to the club, Bala’s appointment was necessitated by the dwindling fortunes of the team in the second stanza of the Nigeria Premier Football League, which has seen them drop to 13th in the table with 34 points after 27 matches.
“The appointment of Coach Bala is imperative given our recent challenges in the second half of the season. We believe his extensive experience in managing teams within the league will significantly contribute to our objective of maintaining our status,” Umar said in a statement.
“It’s worth noting that coach Bala will be collaborating closely with Coach Onigbinde and our dedicated coaching staff. The technical department is not open to all, and we caution against unwarranted meddling as we remain focused on our objectives.”
The Savannah Tigers are winless in eight matches since the start of the second stanza with their last win in the league being their 2-0 win over Katsina United in January.
Their performance is a stark contrast to the first half of the campaign, when they ranked in the top three.
With 11 matches to the end of the season, Bala and Onigbinde must find a way to rescue the club as they sit just three points above the relegation zone.
Sports
‘I’m Not Under Pressure To Coach Eagles’
Finidi George, head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football Leagues side, Enyimba, has stated that he is not losing any sleep over getting the Super Eagles job on a permanent basis.
Early this month, the Nigeria Football Federation declared the position of the Super Eagles’ head coach vacant, following the exit of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the side to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February.
In an advertisement on its website calling for applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”
The former Ajax man, who also applied for the job, was appointed Eagles interim coach for the international window with the former winger picking a win and suffering a defeat.
In an interview with Tidesports source, the 52-year-old tactician said he was not desperate for the job permanently.
“I felt really good when I was told to take charge of the team. I have been with the team for almost two years, I know all the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses but I am only here to serve Nigeria the way I know how to do stuff.
“I will just take these two games and go back to my club. Whatever the decision is taken after, so be it. I’m not under pressure to say I must get the role permanently.”
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