Sports
NCF U-17 Zonal Qualifiers, Girls Finals Begin, Today
The girls finals for the National Under 17 cricket zonal qualifier, which kicked off 15 January, 2021 to select cricketers that will represent the country at the African Cricket Championsip commences today in Benin City.
This was disclosed by the Head Coach, Rivers State Cricket Association, Tonye Timinadi, during an interview with Tidesports yesterday.
According to him, the finals for girls category starts today and ends 31 of this month. while the boys finals is scheduled to kick off 4th and last through 7th February, this year.
“The best players from the various teams would be selected to form a zonal team in the finals,” Timinadi added.
The boys zonal qualification series across 6 zones ended Sunday with Kaduna State emerging champions in the North West, as they beat Jigawa, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kano to maintain 100 percent record in that zone.
Edo State again proved to be too strong in the South-South zone after beating Akwa Ibom State in the final match to leave them unscratched throughout the series.
The North Central region experienced the dominance of the ‘Old Lady’, Kwara State as team FCT, Kogi and Plateau all fell under the onslaught of what could be described as an all round display of proper cricket.
The usual suspects in the South West continued their fierce rivalry for supremacy. In the end, Lagos State took their pound of flesh in the final against Ogun to reign supreme and finish champions in the zone.
Also, in the South East, Anambra retains champions status and bragging rights after beating Abia, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi States respectively.
Earlier in the Week, Gombe State in the North East already had a playoff game to complete the zonal qualification series in the boys category.
The climax of the event was the donation of kit bags to all the states in the South-South region by the Zonal representative and Vice President of the Federation, Mr Uyi Akpata.
Coach Timinadi said the gesture was following the backdrop of other support system over the years, to ensure the continuous growth and development of the sport in the zone.
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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