Sports
ICC Confirms 10 Squads For Women’s W/ Cup Qualifier
The squads of the 10 sides participating in the International Media Council (ICC) Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo from February 7 to February 21 have been announced.
A statement by the Media Department of the (ICC) said in Lagos that India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka are among the leading sides participating in the tournament.
The statement made available to newsmen said the competition would decide which four teams get a chance to play in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 from June 24 to July 23 in England and Wales.
The top four sides will also earn places in the second edition of ICC Women’s Championship, while the fifth and sixth placed sides will secure ODI status for the next four years, it said.
The statement said Australia, England, New Zealand and the West Indies had already qualified directly for the pinnacle tournament after finishing among the top four in the ICC Women’s Championship concluded in November 2016.
It added that India, which has been clubbed along with Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Thailand in Group A, is the top side in the Colombo tournament at fifth rank and boasts a number of top players.
Pace bowler Jhulan Goswami is the top-ranked bowler in the ODI rankings, while Captain Mithali Raj is ranked third among batters.
It said sixth-ranked South Africa is the leading side in Group B, which also has Pakistan, Bangladesh, Scotland and Papua New Guinea.
The statement said that leading South Africa players include medium-pace bowler Marizanne Kapp, who is ranked fourth, and batters Lizelle Lee (11th), Mignon de Preez (17th) and Captain Dane van Niekerk (18th).
For Pakistan, captain and off-spinner Sana Mir is ranked ninth among bowlers, Bismah Maroof is the team’s top ranked batter in 10th place, while Javeria Wadood is ranked 14th.
For Sri Lanka, Chamari Athapaththu is the top-ranked batter from her side at 22nd slot, while left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera is the leading bowler at 35th rank.
According to the event format, each side will play four matches in the first round, following which the top three sides from each group will progress to the Super Six stage.
They will also carry forward points they earn against sides which have progressed to the Super Six stage from their group.
The top four sides from the Super Six stage, in which each side will play three matches against teams from the other group, will complete the eight-team line-up for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.
The top two sides will battle out for the title in the February 21 final.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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