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Africa Beach Soccer Union Unveils Headquarters In Abuja

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The headquarters of the Africa Beach Soccer Union, ABSU, has been officially commissioned in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja ,Nigeria.
Tidesports source reports that the NFF President and member of the FIFA Council, Mr Amaju Pinnick, who was represented by the General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, was impressed, having donated the offices earlier in 2020, pledging more support for the young continental body.
An elated Dr Sanusi, commended the ABSU President, Mahmud Hadejia, and his team for the giant strides in promoting beach soccer in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
“I remember receiving members of the body some time ago at our secretariat and they shared their vision with us, which made us support them with these office spaces. I’m glad today we are here to commission the offices. It shows how dedicated and focused they are,” Sanusi stated.
Dr Sanusi also used the occasion to applaud the Nigeria Beach Soccer Association for seeing through its first league season successfully, which was wrapped up in July earlier in the year, maintaining that with the commencement of a privately driven Nigeria Beach Soccer League (NBSL), there is hope on the horizon for the return of the Nigeria Beach Soccer National team at the international scene.
“You will recall Nigeria was doing very well in beach soccer, but all of a sudden we started dwindling and the problem was traced to lack of a functional league. That was why we put a hold on our participation in international events and said we must start our local league. With a functional local league, now I can assure you that we will go and sit down at our level (NFF) to review our stand (on Super Sand Eagles) so that we can resume participation in international beach soccer again,” he said.
Sanusi pledged to work more closely with the association and ABSU to promote the game in Nigeria and Africa.
Earlier, ABSU President Mahmud Hadejia, said the aim of the continental body was to promote and develop a strong beach soccer culture and league across Africa.
He said the commissioning of the headquarters in Abuja will go a long way in fast-tracking the development of the game.
“Today is historic for stakeholders of beach soccer across Africa, because we have been pushing for a functional headquarters for a long time as this will help facilitate the needed growth of the game in Africa,” Hadejia said.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Nigeria Beach Soccer Association, Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande, in his remarks, said the association will continue to work round the clock to improve the beach soccer league in Nigeria.
Recall the Africa Beach Soccer Union was formed in 2020, with its members across the continent, who are key players in their respective national federations.
While the event was streamelined for members across Africa, who joined the historic event, present at the commissioning alongside Dr Sanusi were NFF executive committee member and Chairman of the Nigeria Beach Soccer Association and Hon. Suleiman Yahaya Kwande; the President of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation/Chairman Kaduna Beach Soccer Association, Engineer Musa Nimrod; representative of Chairman Wacot Rice Ltd a subsidiary of Tropical General Investments Group.

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How Day Six Lifted Rivers At NYG

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Team Rivers added six more medals to their total haul on Day 7 of the National Youth Games in Asaba, Delta State. The medals include two gold and four bronze.
In 4×400 metres male, the quartet of Michael Aniche, Benjamin Progress (both 13), Willngton Majesty and Daniel Caleb (both 14) returned a time 3 mins, 26 secs to pick the gold medal.
In 4×400 metres girls, four 14-year-olds Osinachi Miracle Sunny, Queen Nwika, Esther Barasin and Valerie Amapakagbo, came third behind Delta and Anambra to get bronze.
Still in the relays, this time in the 4×100 metres for boys, 14-year-old Itoemugh Kingsley teamed up with Daniel Caleb, Michael Aniche and Gauis Expensive for yet another bronze medal performance.
Gaius Expensive, a 14-year-old SS3 student of Community Secondary School, Ogan-Ama narrowly surrendered second place to his Akwa Ibom counterpart to land his second bronze of the day, in the 200 metres boys, while age-mate Honest Dike of Baptist Vocational College, Ahoada also landed bronze in the 800 metres boys, behind Taraba and Gombe.
The second gold medal of the day for Team Rivers came in the final of baseball for boys. The team found themselves one run down before rallying to beat Kwara by 4 runs to 3.
The game which was almost marred by trouble was disrupted when the crowd, solidly behind the Rivers side perceived some fowl officiating.
However, the team, which according to Coach Fineface Fate and manager, Shaibu Adamson has been together for about a year, came from behind to win, with runs from Abdulkadiri Idowu, Yusuf Sodiq, Abdulfatai Abdullahi and Matthew Ayoola.
The games ended yesterday with the closing ceremony.

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Bakery Worker Secures Gold For Anambra In Asaba

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Anambra State Karateka, Goodluck Njoku defeated Joshua Ehiozubue from Lagos State with 7-0 points on Friday to win a gold medal in the 50kg boys karate event at the ongoing National Youth Games in Asaba, Delta State.
The newly crowned 50kg champion revealed that he works in the bakery to support himself and to avoid social vices.
The 13-year-old said that it was while he was on his way to work that he met Sensei Godwin Okoro who introduced him to karate. Making his debut at the 2023 Youth Games,
Njoku promised not to disappoint the state in future national championships, noting that this is just the beginning.
“I want to thank God Almighty for his goodness and mercies in my life. In my category, I was the shortest, and I still won the gold medal. During the holidays, I work in the bakery to support myself and my parents because I do not want to remain idle.
“I attend Okpoko Community Primary School, and after closing hours, I still go to the bakery to make a little money. One day, Sensei Godwin Okoro saw me and decided to introduce me to karate. I do not know what he saw in me, but I thank God he took me in.
“The state has given me the necessary exposure at the National Youth Games, and this is an opportunity to give back to the state via winning medals. I want to assure you that this is just the beginning of the success story,” he said.

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Squash Top Seeds Show Class At Classics

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Top seeds, Onaopemipo Adegoke and Rophiat Abudulazeez showed class after winning the maiden edition of the Bolatito Adeyemo Squash Classics held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium at the weekend.
Top 16 players made up of eight men and eight women competed at the two-day tournament.
Adegoke who recently won his first Professional Squash Association (PSA) tournament, defeated Gabriel Olufunmilayo 3-2 to clinch the men’s trophy.
Abudulazeez defeated Jadesola Olatunji 3-0 to reach the finals, while Adegoke defeated Kehinde Samuel by 3-0 to advance into the finals.
Abudulazeez defeated Mistura Durosinlorun 3-1 as she maintained dominance in the women’s category.
For her feat, Abudulazeez went home with N100,000 while Durosinlorun took N60, 000 home while Olatunji and Isaac humbly went home with N30,000 each.
“My trip to Namibia really got me tired but we can’t just ignore this tournament. My game in Namibia also helped but I’m really fagged out,” she said.
Adegoke said that training hard and having played in highly competitive tournaments in recent times have helped to keep him in form.
“Winning my first PSA title in Namibia was a dream come true, there was minus zero support from the audience but with God’s grace and a healthy mental strength I was able to keep it together,” he said.
Prize money for the men’s category is N130,000 while the second position goes home with N80,000 while the third position and fourth position goes home with N40,000 and N20,000 respectively.

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