Sports
NYG: Team Rivers In Record Medal Haul …Delta, Champions Again
As the curtain fell on the 6th National Youth Games (NYG) 2021 inside the University of Ilorin Complex, yesterday, Team Rivers emerged overall fifth with a record haul of medals.
Despite targeting a podium finish, the team recorded a total of 33 medals, 11 gold, eight silver and14 bronze medals to record her best performance and medal haul since the inception of the Games in 2013.
The team after a slow start was on line for a podium finish until a combination of late gold rush, particularly, by Lagos and Bayelsa teams and illluck in some medal contests saw them lose ground on the penultimate day of the Games.
However, Team Rivers was in the mix for the medal rush in the final two days as Daniel Mba secured gold in golf’s Ecletics event for boys with a total gross of 74 and Christie Obomanu won silver in match play for girls. She had won gold the previous day in stroke play with a score of 82 gross.
Basketball also delivered gold as the Fubara Onyenabo tutored boys showed class, dominating their Ebonyi counterparts 21 -12 in the semi final before edging out Bauchi 16-15 in the gold medal match. It was one of the most keenly contested basketball event in the history of the Games.
Tennis provided gold in the mixed event, Shot put, boys, a silver, 4 by 100 m, a bronze and Amarachukwu Ezeakor got silver in Chess.
Added to the basketball gold on the final day were a gold medal in Kung Fu, where Cynthia Phillips subdued her opponent from Nasarawa via Technical Knock Out (TKO).
During the closing ceremony, Rivers further secured silver and bronze in 4 by 400 mixed relay and 200m, boys.
For Team Delta, it was medal blitz from Day 1 to the last day, clinching the first position with a whopping haul of 114 medals, 60 gold, 26 silver and 28 bronze medals.
They were in a blitzing form on the final day, especially, the closing ceremony events, claiming all the four gold medals available in 200m girls, 200m boys, 4 by 100 m mixed relay and 4 by 400 m mixed relay.
Speaking just before the closing ceremony, the leader of Team Rivers delegation and Permanent Secretary of Rivers State Ministry of Sports, Sir Honour Sirawoo described the state’s performance as a tremendous achievement, finishing top five and recording the number of medals they did for the first time.
“The beauty of it all is that there’s improvement on performance, judging from previous performances in 2018 and 2019. In sports, what you desire is development and improvement. We have learnt our lessons from this experience and I assure that from next time, based on what we have discovered now, which we’re going to work on, we are definitely going to do better”.
Top 10 on the medal table are Delta with 114 medals, Lagos with 72 medals, Bayelsa with 46 medals, Ogun with 45 medals Edo with 40 medals, FCT with 36 medals, Rivers had 33 medals, the Host state; Kwara grabbed 32 medals, Oyo with 31 medals and Ondo state with 30 medals among every other performing states.
By: Gabriel Nwanetanya
Sports
New Eagles Squad Excites WizKids
Nigerian Afrobeats star Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, has expressed his satisfaction with the Super Eagles’ preparation ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier against Rwanda in Kigali.
The team, now under the leadership of newly appointed head coach Eric Chelle, held its first training session on Tuesday afternoon.
Reacting to the new squad, Wizkid took to his X handle on Wednesday, writing, “New Super Eagles team! (I) love the energy,” he wrote.
The crucial qualifier is set to take place at the Amahoro Stadium in Rwanda on Friday, March 21, with kickoff scheduled for 5 pm Nigerian time.
Following the match, Nigeria will return home to face Zimbabwe in Uyo on Tuesday.
The Super Eagles must secure maximum points from both fixtures to strengthen their chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Nigeria’s current squad features several in-form players, including Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, Genk’s Tolu Arokodare and Fulham’s Calvin Bassey.
The match against Rwanda will be Chelle’s first game in charge of the three-time African champions, who are desperate for a positive result to keep their World Cup qualification hopes alive.
The Super Eagles last played at the Amahoro Stadium in September 2024, where they were held to a goalless draw by Rwanda.
Sports
NLO Tasks Clubs To Complete Players’ Facial Registration
The Nationwide League One (NLO) has mandated the clubs that make up the Division One and U19 Youth League to complete their players’ facial verification process.
The Secretariat of the nation’s third-tier league regulatory body via its media department gave reasons on the essence of exercise as the March 30th players’ registration deadline draws near.
According to the NLO, clubs must complete facial verification for each player during registration to prevent duplicate registrations.
As regards players that have already been registered, the NLO explained that if a player fails verification (already registered with another club), the holding club must release the player. The NLO Admin will confirm the release and allow the verification of such a player for the new club.
The NLO stressed the importance of the release documentation and Registration Window Closure.
Releasing clubs must upload the player’s release document. This document will be reviewed and verified by the NLO Admin.
After the registration window closes, clubs cannot sign new players.
With the introduction of the new facial recognition technology, all clubs must register both their existing and new players.
These updates ensure a fair and transparent registration system. For assistance, clubs should contact NLO support.
Sports
Aruna Up For $275k WTT Chennai
Nigeria table tennis star, Quadri Aruna, will contest in the maiden WTT Contender Chennai in India after he was picked as a replacement for German star, Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
The WTT Contender Chennai is the fifth WTT event of the year and marks the first staging of the series in the City.
The event which has a prize purse of $270,000 will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai, India from March 25 to 30.
Aruna and nine other players have been confirmed for the men’s singles including his African rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar.3.
Other players confirmed so far include Denmark’s Jonathan Groth (17), Hugo Calderano of Brazil (6) and world number four Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan.
The 36-year-old has played in two WTT events this year.
In January, he made it as far as the semi-finals in the WTT Star Contender in Doha where he lost in straight sets to Japanese sensation Tomokazu Harimoto.
Last Wednesday, the world number 19 crashed out of the WTT Champions Chongqing 2025 after suffering a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to world number two Wang Chuqin of China in their round of 32 clash.
Aruna will hope to put up a more commanding show in India, as he has been tipped to shine by the world body.
“Stay tuned. There’s more to come from Quadri Aruna in India,” WTT captioned Aruna’s video on Monday after announcing his participation.
WTT Executive Director of Events Mounir Bessah also said the competition is a bold step forward as they expect Aruna and other players to deliver a memorable spectacle.
“Chennai’s inclusion in the WTT Series calendar underscores our mission to expand the reach of table tennis globally while honouring the sport’s passionate fanbase in India. With a venue like the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium and the support of Tamil Nadu’s government, we are ready to deliver an unforgettable spectacle for players and fans.”
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