Imo Wins Zonal Badminton Tournament

Imo has won the maiden edition of the Open Badminton Tournament, organised by zone six of the National Sports Commission (NSC), comprising Imo and Abia.

The tournament,  known as “Dr. Patrick Ekeji Open Badminton Tournament”, took place at  Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, over the weekend.

 Imo won 14 medals, consisting of eight gold and six bronze, while Abia won 12 medals, consisting of eight silver and four bronze.

 Imo received the overall best male cup and the overall best female cup.

 In a speech, the Director-General of NSC, who was represented by the Imo Director of Sports, Chief Goddy Agbarakwe, promised that the Commission would include other sporting events in future tournaments.

 He explained that the creation of new zones of the Commission  was to enable the Commission to catch  sportsmen and women young.

 ”We have about 36 sports and the Commission has started the tournament with badminton for the South-East zone six, other sports will later take their turns,” the director general said.

 He urged the athletes “to be good ambassadors of the zone,” pointing out that some of them would represent the zone in the forthcoming national sports festival in Port Harcourt.

The Imo Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Chief Tony Uzoukwu, who was represented by a director in the ministry, Mrs. Claribel Nwaiwu, described the tournament as “apt and timely”.

 According to him, the competition will give an opportunity to the zone to choose potential athletes to represent it at Rivers 2010.

The NSC zonal coordinator, Mrs. Jane Owoh, said that five new discoveries were made at the end of the competition, comprising three from Imo and two from Abia.

Owoh expressed satisfaction with the standard the athletes displayed during the tournament, adding that they showed great prospects for an impressive outing in Rivers 2010.

The captains of Imo and Abia teams, Hope Ndukwu and Emmanuel Igwe, commended the Commission for organising the competition, saying that it helped them to know their strengths and weaknesses.