Sports
Pam, Oluwaseun Emerge Winners Of Marathon Race
Female wrestlers at tie
Iliya Pam and Lamide
Oluwaseun have emerged winners of the male and female categories of the 42-kilometre Integrity Marathon Race sponsored by Splash FM 105.5, a private radio station in Ibadan.
Tidesports source gathered that Pam, who had been an all-prize winner in the last three editions, emerged the winner of the male category after completing the race in 2 hours, 39mins and 37 seconds (2:39:37).
Pam, who hails from Nassarawa State had emerged 4th, 2nd and 4th in the fifth, sixth, and seventh edition respectively.
Oluwaseun from Lagos State emerged the winner of the female category after completing the race in 3 hours, 15 minutes and 20 seconds. (3:15:20).
According to the report Peter, Danjuma Gyan and Goar Moses came second, third and fourth in the male category of the race.
Four-time winner of the female category, Genevieve Njoku, Kistinwa Stephen and Gyan Stephen emerged second, third and fourth in the female category of the race.
Cheques of N600,000, N300,000, N150,000, N90,000, N60,000 were released for the first, second, third, fourth and fifth positions in the male category respectively.
Also, cheques of N400,000, N200,000, N100,000, N60,000 and N40,000 were given to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth position winners in the female categories respectively.
Pam, the winner of the male category, told newsmen that he was in the race to finance his education, adding that he had just secured admission into a College of Education.
He said that he had emerged the runner-up in the recently concluded Access Bank race in Lagos but was yet to receive the cash prize.
“I decided to participate in this one to make money to finance my education because the Access Bank race money is yet to be paid,” he said.
The marathon race was initiated by Splash Fm 105.5 in 2009, making this year’s edition the eighth.
In his message to the event, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung, said that it was imperative that sports should be used to combat vices in the society.
Dalung, who was represented by Mr Demola Are, an official in the ministry, commended Splash FM for starting the initiative eight years ago.
He described the initiative as laudable, saying it would complement President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti- corruption campaign while promoting good governance, transparency and accountability.
The minister called on well-meaning Nigerians, government as well as Non-Governmental Organisations to assist in grassroots sports development.
Earlier in his address, Chief Adebayo Akande (MFR), the Chairman/Founder of Splash FM, said that the race was aimed at promoting values that could help the nation to tackle corruption.
“As particular to every race, strength is exerted, devotion is required, resilience is needed, tenacity is important and consistency is key.
“These principles are needed in the fight against corruption that serves as hindrance to good governance,” he said.
Akande, the Ekefa Olubadan of Ibadanland, said that the race was in support of the present government in its anti-corruption campaign.
“We understand that the level of corruption is rife in the country and there is need to jail corrupt officials.
“We must emphasise that the fight against corruption cannot be won without the cooperation of the people,” he said.
The event also featured a 5-kilometre race tagged, “Running for a Cause”, in which participants donated their cash prizes to various causes.
In a bid to have more young talented Nigerians to play professional football abroad, Johnny Ogbah, a sports lawyer and football intermediary, has called on parents to enroll their children in Vector Programme.
He stated that the programme is in conjunction with Conventry Football Club in United Kingdom (UK), saying that the programme includes academics where a child can acquire a degree.
Ogbah, made the call while addressing sports journalists recently in Port Harcourt, as the programme will admit students into Brooke College between the age of 11 and 18 Football Academy.
The major objective of Vector Programme is to give the young ones a career through sports and good education. The programme does not train people on football only but also other things that is related to sporting environment, he said.
According to him, more than 20 Nigerians have benefited from the programme on scholarship and most of them are now playing football in top clubs in Europe.
“Vector programme was poised to create an avenue to give people to play football to the highest level.
Apart from football the child can also have quality education. It will interest you to know that those in Vector programme play friendly games that attracts scouts from different countries and football clubs.
The programme doesn’t train you on only football but also train people on everything that is associated to sports”, Ogbah said.
The former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) player further disclosed Vector programme pathways provides the practice opportunities that players need if they are to successfully graduate as a professional player.
By: Tonye Orabere
The Head Coach of Khana FC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Sam Ledor, has blamed his players as they were unable to convert scoring chances.
According to him, if those chances created in their opening match against Jet Bomber FC at the ongoing Nation wide League One (NLO), in Omoku centre were converted, it would have given them victory.
Ledor, said this on Saturday in a chat with Tidesports shortly after they played goalless draw against Jet Bomber FC in their opening match in 2024 NLO Division in Omoku, Rivers State.
“ We created a lot of scoring chances but could not find the net”, he said.
He explained that playing goalless draw is not a bad result in football but in a competition like this, they need to score goals and win matches.
“ My brother, we missed a lot of scoring chances which is not good. I trainned my players on how to create chances and to convert them.
“ What is important in a competition is winning but as we did not lose the game, we will look forward for our next game.
“We will go back to the drawing board and correct the grey areas in our game and ensure we get better results in our next outing.
“Today’s game is gone, what we need to do is to make sure we win our next game,” he stated.
He pointed out that no game comes easy but the effort you put in will give good result. They tried their best today and the result was good for both teams but we need to win our next game.
“My opponents were also a good side; they tried all what they could but didn’t score also. It was a good game but my team needs to win games,” he added.
By: Kiadum Edookor
A French-American, John Walter Wilkins is confident Rivers Hoopers can make it to the playoff round of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Wilkins, who is the son of former NBA player Jeff Wilkins, linked up with his Hoopers teammates at the team’s training camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ahead of the 2024 BAL Savannah Conference games, which tip off on Saturday, 4th May, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal.
Wilkins is no stranger to African basketball, having played for Moroccan sides AS Salé (2015-2016) and Ittihad Tanger (2017-2019), before leading Stade Malien to a third-place finish at BAL 2023.
Looking ahead to the 2024 BAL, Wilkins says the quality of basketball across Africa has improved, with the BAL requiring a high level of competitiveness, but backed Rivers Hoopers to spring a surprise at the tournament.
“It’s a really high level, a great competition; [it’s] one of the best I’ve played in since I’ve been in Africa. But we don’t need to be scared. We need to just attack the moment, be there, be present, and I think if we are confident in our abilities, we can surprise people,” he said.
Since its inaugural season in 2021, Nigerian teams have appeared twice at the BAL, with Rivers Hoopers playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021 and Kwara Falcons featuring at BAL 2023.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs on both previous occasions, Wilkins is optimistic that with the quality of players in the Hoopers squad as well as the recruitment done ahead of the BAL, Rivers Hoopers will be more competitive in this season’s BAL.
“I’m really optimistic. I know that those past years the teams from Nigeria didn’t do well, but I think with me, Kelvin [Amayo], Will [Perry], and the other guys, I think we can show the way, have some wins, and be more competitive,” he stated.
The Nigerian Champions were drawn in the Savannah Conference alongside former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), last year’s runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and APR (Rwanda).
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