Sports
Dolphins’ Top Four Position Excites Eguma
Dolphins’ Manager, Stanley Eguma has expressed his delight at over club’s new form and climb up the Nigeria professional Football League, (NPFL) table in the past few weeks. According to him, he is enjoying the view from fourth place as he looks down on sixteen other clubs on the log.
After the home draw against Sunshine Stars in week 4, Dolphins were in 16th position but since then, they have won every home match played and picked points on the road to Sharks and Kwara United to move to the fourth spot.
In Port Harcourt last weekend, it was a hard fought 1-0 win over Elkanemi on a waterlogged pitch due to heavy rains and Eguma said he was happy that their hard work is finally bearing fruit.
“We have all worked hard and I am happy we have moved to fourth place. It’s actually a good feeling to be up here.
“Now we have to keep fighting, not relent and grab points on the road to move further up into top three,” Eguma said.
Less than one minute into the game on Sunday, El Kanemi’s Isaac Giwa tried a back pass to his goalkeeper, David Obiasor, but the ball stopped in a pool of water.
With Derek Amadi running in for the ball, Giwa pulled him down and the referee promptly pointed to the spot.
Victor Ezuruike converted the kick and Dolphins held on until the end of the game.
In the 71st minute, Isaac Giwa was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Sports in Rivers State, Hon Fred Igwe has stated his belief that Dolphins’ sister-club, Sharks, which is currently struggling at the wrong end of the league table, will surely stabilise and escape relegation.
Speaking with Tidesports in his office, Hon Igwe said that Sharks FC’s current challenges were not unexpected.
According to him, “when you are referring and rebuilding, you are bound to face challenges you may straggle initially because those affected by the reform and even. Some of the people working with you who may not be at home with the reforms can work against you.
‘But we’re working towards improving the situation. You can now see that the club has started picking up points away from home.
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
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