Sports

OPEIFA Cup: Former Players Plead For Championships For School Leavers

Published

7 years ago

June 24, 2019

Participants in the previous annual Lagos State Secondary Schools Handball Championships, tagged “OPEIFA CUP’,’ have appealed to Kayode Opeifa to initiate equivalent competitions for school leavers.
Babatunde Taiwo and Babatunde Kehinde, four-time participants and graduates of the annual championships, made the call in an interview with newsmen, Thursday, in Lagos on the ongoing competition.
Tidesports source reports that the OPEIFA CUP is an annual Lagos State Handball Association (LSHA) programme put in place to discover and nurture players from the grassroots.
The championships sponsored by Kayode Opeifa, a patron of LSHA, which was initiated in 2015 for boys and girls have held uninterruptedly and now in its 5th edition.
The Babatunde twins, who recently completed their secondary school education from Wesley Girls Senior High School, Sabo, Yaba, were members of the school team and regular participants in OPEIFA CUP.
Taiwo, a player told newsmen that the call became necessary as players that had graduated from secondary schools were no longer eligible for the tournament.
She said there was need to have a similar championships that would engage players that fell in such category to enable them strengthen their experiences acquired from the competition.
The highest goal scorer and MVP awarded player of the 3rd and 4th editions of OPEIFA CUP, tied her success in handball so far to regular participation in the tournament.
“Handball has become a fast growing sport in Lagos, especially since the OPEIFA CUP started in 2015 and the championships hold every year for public and private secondary schools.
“OPEIFA CUP has helped my twin sister and I to come to limelight and I have won three awards in the tournament but can no longer participate because we have graduated from secondary school.
“It was a wonderful experience passing through OPEIFA CUP and I am very grateful to Daddy Opeifa for all his support which has made my carreer meaningful.
“We are aspiring to go higher and appealing to Daddy Opeifa to introduce another championships for those of us that have left secondary schools to sustain our competition spirit,” she said.

Sports

Rivers-born Chess Player Clinches Third Position At World Amateur Rapid Chess Championship

Published

1 day ago

August 10, 2026

The Tide

A veteran Rivers State chess player, Apollos Akomaka, has finished in joint 3rd place at the just-concluded World Amateur Rapid Chess Championship held in Abuja.

Akomaka, who is the director of physiotherapy at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, overcame a shaky start to secure a podium finish in the 11-round rapid event that began on August 2.

The tournament featured top chess players from several countries.

After losing his opening game, the defining moment for Akomaka came between Rounds 7 and 11.

He raised his game and began defeating some of the top-ranked players in the event.

The Rivers-born player ended the championship tied for 3rd place in the U2000 category with 6.5 points out of 11, alongside Cameroon’s national champion, Noumbo Vidal.

His final game was against Vidal, with the Nigerian playing the black pieces.

Vidal opened with a queen’s gambit but quickly transposed into an English opening with a double fianchetto attack.

Akomaka responded sharply with a king’s Indian defense and soon launched a kingside attack from a defensive position.

The pressure paid off, resulting in an immediate material gain, a knight for a rook, and leaving Akomaka with a strong attacking advantage.

Vidal fought hard to avoid mate and managed to steer the game into an endgame, where he found some respect. At that point, the Cameroon champion offered a draw, which Akomaka accepted.

Speaking after the event, Akomaka said that he is resilient and determined after the poor start but happy that he finished on the podium.

He expressed optimism that in subsequent competitions he will make Rivers State proud and Nigeria at large.

Akomaka has won both local and national chess championships in recent times.

He is passionate about chess; besides, he has equally sponsored several national chess tournaments in Nigeria.

The World Amateur Rapid Chess Championship concluded with Akomaka of Rivers State,

Nigeria, battling back from an early loss to end among the top three in his category

Tonye Orabere/Kiadum Edookor

Sports

Team Nigeria Secures Women’s 4x100m, 4x400m Finals at World U20 Championships

Published

1 day ago

August 10, 2026

The Tide

Team Nigeria continued its impressive showing at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, securing places in both the women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay finals after strong performances in the heats.

The Nigerian quartet of Becky Ebiyadi, Jecinta Lawrence, Tejiri Praise Ugoh and Faith Ezechukwu booked their place in the women’s 4x400m final after clocking a season’s best of 3:35.28.

Nigeria finished third in the heat behind Italy and Great Britain, doing enough to advance to the final and remain firmly in contention for a medal.

In the women’s 4x100m, Ugoh joined Lucy Nwankwo, Chigozie Nwankwo and Oluebube Ezechukwu as Nigeria produced another season’s best, clocking 43.65 seconds to secure an automatic ticket to the women’s 4x100m final.

The qualification was sealed by a sensational anchor leg from Ezechukwu. Receiving the baton nearly 20 metres behind the United States, the Nigerian launched a determined charge down the home straight, rapidly closing the gap before edging the Americans at the line to claim the third automatic qualifying position.

Nigeria stopped the clock at 43.65 seconds, just 0.02 seconds ahead of the United States, who finished in 43.67 seconds.

The performances mean Nigeria will now contest both women’s relay finals, further strengthening the country’s medal prospects at the championships.

In Saturday’s evening phase of the event, Success Uyibo will compete in the 200m women’s final while the 4x100m compete in the women’s final.

Sports

Poor welfare forced me to dump Delta for Enugu, says world – Nwachukwu

Published

1 day ago

August 10, 2026

The Tide

World Record holder and Commonwealth Games champion, Goodness Nwachukwu, has revealed why she dumped Delta State for Enugu State.

The sudden departure of Nwachukwu, a multiple gold medallist, from Team Delta to the Coal City, Enugu , sparked controversy within the sports family, with officials of Delta State Sports Commission accusing the president of the Paralympic Committee of Nigeria, Sunday Odebode, of manipulating the system for the athlete to dump the state.

But Nwachukwu, who broke the World Record to win a gold medal for Team Nigeria in the Women’s Discus F42 event at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has cleared the air on the circumstances that led to her movement to Enugu State.

Speaking with The Tidesports source report, shortly after winning the gold medal, Nwachukwu said: “It is not true that anybody aided my movement from Delta State to Enugu. Rather, it was Delta State that forced me to leave because of poor remuneration.