Sports
BOWFT: Edo Queens, Three Others Secure Semifinal Spot
Edo Queens, Nasarawa FC, Robo Queens FC and Delta Queens, yesterday, advanced to the semifinals of the Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament (BOWFT) holding in Benin City, after an impressive display at the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Edo Queens sailed through to the quarterfinals by crushing Heartland Queens of Owerri 4-0 with Eunice Godwin netting a hattrick, while Heartland FC’s Kelechi Orji scored an own goal.
Godwin’s three goals came in the 40th, 44th and 46th minutes of the match. Also in the semifinals is FC Robo, who hit six goals past their rival, Confluence Queens.
Shukurat Oladipo opened the campaign for Robo FC with a goal in the 19th minute, disrupting the usually compact Confluence Queens of Lokoja.
Rukayat Oladiti and Nwokodia Favour pulled in the second and third goals of the match in the 42nd and 44th minute, ending the first half 3-0 in favour of Robo FC.
Fifty-five minutes into the second half, Kehinde Akinwande scored for the Lagos-based Robo FC before Taiwo Lawal pulled in her brace in the 59th and 77th minutes of the match to humble Confluence Queens.
Meanwhile, the battle royal between Royal Queens and Delta Queens ended 2-1 after 90 minutes of play in favour of the Delta-based club.
The first goal was a converted penalty by Favour Ijeje of Royal Queens in 31st minute before Chinansa Agoh equalised in the first three minutes of the second half. The match decider came in through Vera Samuel’s 71st minute strike, sending the Royal Queens to the semifinals.
Nasarawa Amazons FC beat Naija Ratels 3-2 with Nasarawa’s Dooshima Tarnum pulling in the last goal of the match in the 73rd minute to decide the match in favour of the Lafia-based team.
The tournament, which is Nigeria’s only pre-season women football championship, is a brainchild of Edo State First Lady, Mrs Betsy Obaseki.
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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