Sports
NPFL: Bendel Insurance Tops Group A
Group A leaders, Bendel Insurance, on Wednesday, faced, perhaps, their toughest game of the 2022/23 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), so far, but at the end, they came out 1-0 winners against visiting Nasarawa United.
Nasarawa United were among the top sides in the league last season, but they have been floundering in the seven-week competition, until yesterday.
Led by Coach Abubakar Arikya, Nasarawa United threw everything they had into the game played at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, perhaps, looking for their first away win.
But in a Bendel Insurance, who have won all their home games and recorded a couple of away wins, they met a side grilled for success.
The first half of the game ended goalless, but the second half was only seven minutes gone when Ebuka Akobundu got the goal that made the difference.
Insurance will meet second-placed Enyimba in their next game away from home.
Speaking on his side’s loss, Nasarawa United Coach, Arikya, said: “We played well, but we got a result we did not expect. That is football.
“I am proud of my boys because they gave a good account of themselves.
“We will go back to work harder and by the grace of God, we will get a better result in our next match. We intend to be in a position to qualify for the play-off.”
To Insurance’s Coach, Monday Odigie, yesterday’s result showed the stuff his players are made of, saying a lot is being demanded of the players by the tight fixtures.
“It was difficult because this is our second game in just four days and that was why we struggled from beginning to the end.
“We beg the organisers of the league to please consider these boys and make the schedule lighter,” he said.
On the game against Enyimba at the weekend, Odigie said Insurance would approach it without fear.
“It doesn’t matter who our opponent is, but we always try to play well and get a good result. We are taking it one game after the other.”
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
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