Sports
Women Challenge Cup Semi-finals Hold ’Morrow
The semi-finals of the 2011 Women Challenge Cup will now hold on Tuesday at the FIFA Goal Project’s astro-turf pitch of the Abuja National Stadium, an official has said.
Head of the Women Football Unit of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Mr Danlami Alanana, said the semi-finals would involve epic matches.
“The competition has now reached a tough and very interesting stage, and I can assure all football fans that the two semi-final matches will be memorable games,” he said.
The first semi-final match will see defending champions Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt facing Delta Queens of Asaba while the second game will have Pelican Stars of Calabar meeting Sunshine Queens of Akure at 3.30 p.m.
Agency reports indicate that all four clubs are coming fresh from their participation in the Women Football League’s Super Six which ended last Saturday at the same venue.
Delta Queens, winners of the five-day contest, had stunned favourites Rivers Angels with a 1-0 win on the final day to upstage them and set the stage for tomorrow’s meeting.
“Tuesday is going to be interesting, in vew of what is now on ground, but we are up to it and I am confident we will win again,” Daniel Evumena, the Delta Queens’ Technical Adviser, had said on Saturday.
Super Falcons’ star Stella Mbachu has however promised the Delta Queens a tough time, saying the situation was going to be different.
“No two games are the same, and this time around, Delta Queens will not find it easy. “In fact, there is no way for them, because we are not ready to surrender our title and they have made us more determined with our loss to them on Saturday,” she said.
Pelican Stars had beaten Sunshine Queens 1-0 on Matchday Three of the Super Six on Wednesday, and the Akure side would now be looking to extract their pound of flesh.
The Challenge Cup competition’s third-place and final matches have been billed for the same venue on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
The final matches of the Women Challenge Cup competition were earlier scheduled to begin on Sunday, September 25 and later Monday, Sept. 26, before being moved again.
Alanana said the postponements were as a result of the tight schedule of the Nigerian women football calendar.
“Now, we have a tight situation, and we want the season to end this week for the Super Falcons’ to resume their camping ahead of their final 2012 Olympic qualifier.
“We had wanted the Challenge Cup finals to immediately follow the Super Six, but being that the teams in both competitions are almost the same, that was not possible.
“But now, the clubs have been allowed to rest from the rigours of the Super Six on Sunday and Monday, and then return to the pitch for the Challenge Cup matches on Tuesday,” he said.
The Super Six competition, earlier scheduled to end on Friday, September 23, had ended a day later as it did not begin on September 18 as earlier scheduled.
Only Denmark, ranked 21st globally, sits higher among nations that failed to qualify for the tournament, which is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
England and Chelsea legend John Terry was among those to voice his disappointment, describing Nigeria as a significant loss to a tournament that features 48 nations for the first time.
“Nigeria will be a big miss. This is a World Cup for participants who haven’t had the opportunity to play in the tournament. I would have loved to see a top team like Nigeria there because they’ve got some great individuals. They’re a great nation,” Terry said during a virtual roundtable session organised by SuperSport.
“I think they are a big miss because Nigeria probably would have gone further in the competition, but unfortunately, one side’s loss is another’s gain,” the former England captain added.
Eric Chelle’s side finished second in Group C of the CAF World Cup qualifiers behind South Africa, who secured automatic qualification. Nigeria kept their hopes alive with a playoff semi-final victory over Gabon before falling to the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties in the decisive playoff final — their second successive absence from the World Cup after also missing the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The Nigeria Football Federation later challenged DR Congo’s qualification, alleging the use of ineligible players during the campaign, but the appeal was dismissed.
Despite missing the World Cup, the Super Eagles remain Africa’s 3rd highest-ranked team behind Morocco, who sit seventh in the world, and Senegal. Algeria and Egypt complete the continent’s top five.
Defending champions Argentina enter the tournament as the world’s top-ranked side, ahead of Spain, France, England and Portugal. Brazil are sixth, followed by Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
The next FIFA World Ranking will be released on July 20, a day after the World Cup final.
Chima Akachukwu and Miracle Akhigbe are among the 16 notable stars picked by the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) for the forthcoming Namibia Tour, where the YellowGreens will compete in a T20 and 50-Over Tri-Series, featuring hosts Namibia and Hong Kong China.
Both players make their way back into the YellowGreens fold after periods away from the side and will be eager to contribute their experience and quality as Nigeria pursues success in Namibia.
The NCF said yesterday that the squad, which departs Nigeria today, forms part of the national team’s continued preparations for future international assignments as the YellowGreens seek to build on recent performances and strengthen their standing on the global stage.
Leading the squad is Captain Sulaimon Runsewe, who will spearhead Nigeria’s campaign against two formidable opponents in what promises to be a highly competitive series.
The selected squad combines experienced internationals with emerging talents, providing the technical crew an opportunity to assess player development and team combinations in both the T20 and 50-over formats.
The team will be led on tour by Coaches Leke Oyede and Tamuno John, who will oversee preparations and match operations during the opening phase of the series.
Joining the squad later in Namibia will be the newly appointed Head Coach and High Performance Manager, Stephen Magongo, whose arrival marks another significant step in the Federation’s commitment to strengthening the national team structure and enhancing player development pathways.
Supporting the coaching staff are Team Analyst Jamal Okechukwu, Strength and Conditioning Coach Seye Olympio, and Team Physiotherapist Timothy Adesomowo, forming a well-rounded technical crew focused on maximising player performance and welfare throughout the tour.
The NCF views the Namibia Tri-Series as an important platform for the continued growth of the national team, offering valuable international exposure and competitive match experience against quality opposition. The series will provide the players and technical crew with another opportunity to evaluate progress, fine-tune strategies, and build momentum ahead of future international competitions.
The YellowGreens will face Namibia and Hong Kong China in both T20 and 50-over contests, with the matches expected to test the team’s adaptability, discipline, and resilience in challenging conditions.
Blessing Otu on Monday overcame hard-fighting Kelvin Bebe- Emmanuella in two sets of 6-1, 6-3 to qualify for the second round of the women’s singles of the ongoing 47th Central Bank of Nigeria Senior Tennis Championship, held at the Tennis Courts of the package “B” of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
Speaking after the round of 32 game, Otu, who will be 19 years old in September, said she capitalised on her opponent’s weaknesses to gain victory, having studied her game very well.
“Bebe is a very good and tough player. But I studied her game and did the job well.
“Although she tried to come back in the second set, I punctured all her tricks to win the match and move on. I wish I could continue like this in the rest of my games,” she said.
Another member of the Otu family, John Out, was also victorious as he defeated Mohammed Abdusalam 2-1 (6-2, 6-7, 6-1) in the men’s singles category to advance into the round of 32.
But the third Otu in the game, Thomas, was not that lucky as he lost by 6-0, 7-5 in two straight sets to Danjuma Isaac.
In other matches, Michael Emmanuel defeated Ibrahim Aminu to advance, while Drimiya Mevi outclassed Seyi Ogunsakin by beating him 2-1 (6-7, 6-3, 6-1). Action continues tomorrow when other top players, including the men’s singles top seed, Abua Cannice, join the chase for honours.
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