Sports
Odusanya Sets New Record At T’Tennis Tournament
A new tournament record is set by Bose Odusanya at the 52nd Asoju Oba Molade Okoya-Thomas Table Tennis Cup after she claimed her sixth women’s singles title of the oldest sporting event in Nigeria.
From 2015, Odusanya had been unbeaten in the final and again this year she reclaimed her title after beating Kehinde Oyeniyi 4-0 (11-1, 11-6, 11-4, 13-11) to emerge as champion.
Tidesports source gathered that the two-day tournament ended yesterday at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
She is the first player in the history of the tournament to claim the title consecutively six times in a row.
With the quarterfinal exit of men’s singles defending champion David Fayele, a former champion Ahmed Adeyinka reclaimed the title again.
Fayele, who had boasted of his intention to claim his title was shocked in the quarterfinal by Augustine Emmanuel who put an end to the dream of the soldier man with 4-2 (5-11, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8).
Despite working his way to the final, Emmanuel was no match to Adeyinka in the men’s singles final as he was overwhelmed by the experienced opponent.
From the start of the tie, it was as if Emmanuel was going to humble another former champion but from the way and manner Adeyinka approached the match, it was clear that he had learnt from the downfall of Fayele in the quarterfinal.
In less than 30 minutes, Adeyinka had defeated Emmanuel 4-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5) to wipe off the tears of losing in the final last year.
A total of 48 men and 25 women competed in the tournament which has continued to churn out stars for Lagos and Nigeria.
Director General, Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Gafar Bolowotan, said that the staging of the tournament by the family of late Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas was a confirmation of the commitment of the family to grassroots development.
“I am happy that the family decided to stage the tournament this year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and that new players have emerged; we believe the Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSSC) would take up some of the discoveries from there.
He commended the players for following the laid-down COVID-19 protocols throughout the tournament to protect the lives of athletes.
Ayodeji Okoya-Thomas, who spoke on behalf of the family, said that this year’s tournament faced outright cancellation but had to be scaled down due to COVID-19 pandemic
“I do not feel too good about it that we do not have the 22 events but we had to make a decision.
“We either cancel or just have two events, which is women singles and men singles,” Molade-Okoya said.
He added that the family was just being careful not to organise a tournament that would increase the risk of COVID-19.
“We do not want it to be on record that we missed the tournament in a year,” he said.
Femi Sokoya, Chairman, Lagos State Table Tennis Association, said that he was glad the tournament was held.
He added that the tournament had encourage a lot of athletes to improve.
“Am extremely excited about the tournament and I have seen a lot of improvement in some players.
“We are already following up with some new talents and already speaking with their coaches to fish them out so we can encourage them to continue.
“The lady that got beaten had the finals had shown a lot of improvement, last year she lost out at the semi finals.
“This year she has improved a lot, though her performance at the finals was not encouraging”, he said.
He added that the passion for table tennis had ensure the tournament was held.
NAN reports that the first place got a Samsung air conditioner each, second place, 43 inches Samsung television, while third place got Panasonic standing fan each.
Isaako All Stars FC of Opuoko and Khana Khana AllStars Football all in Local Government Area of Rivers State will tomorrow engage in a friendly football match at Opuoko Mini Stadium.
Chatting with Tidesports in a telephone interview yesterday the Chairman of Khana All Stars Saro Tap-le said that the encounter is not going to be an easy game in spite it is an AllStars game.
He express his side readiness for the encounter stating that the opportunity as come for them to showcase their talents.
However, the chairman explained that AllStars game is not about winning but the excitement, love, unity and friendship it creates is more important.
” Tomorrow game is not going to be an easy one despite is a AllStars game. We are going there in a full force to do what we know how to do best and to showcase our talents.
“As Chairman of Khana All Stars I believes we have an edge over the Isaako All Stars be we are training so hard for the encounter” Tap-le said.
Also speaking the Chairman of Isaako All Stars Mina Zaasi Iloori sees the match as an opportunity to build relationships.
” My brother it is an AllStars friendly game I think winning is not important but the paramount thing is the relationship we are going to create among both teams and my community at large
” We are training hard because of the encounter because I will not be in my house and somebody will rob soap in my eyes.
” As I speak with you we are just coming from back training ground to ensure all my players are fit for the match.
” I am using this medium to call on football fans to come en mass to Opuoko Mini Stadium tomorrow and enjoy the best of round leather game.
I promise the game will be an exciting display of football talents and sportsmanship”, Iloori said.
Kiadum Edookor
Thierry Henry has called for the return of the away goals rule in the aftermath of the bombastic Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona.
The visitors at the Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys came within milimeters of clinching the first leg of the final-four clash after former Arsenal star Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted late in the second-half.
But the linesman was quick to raise his flag, and semi-automated offside ruled out what would have been a thrilling conclusion to the high-octane 3-3 draw.
The hosts came from behind twice to share the spoils, chasing Inter Milan from the first minute of the game after Marcus Thuram stunned the Barcelona faithful into silence with his neatly flicked goal.
Denzel Dumfries doubled Inter’s lead 20 minutes later, but it took just three more for the Blaugrana to finally get on the scoresheet courtesy of a moment of magic from teenage starlet Lamine Yamal.
Ferran Torres drew Barcelona level ahead of the break, but Lamal was forced to play catch-up again in the second-half after Dumfries scored his second.
In light of the impressive effort from Inter, Henry wondered if the team should have got more from the fixture ahead of the second-leg at the San Siro.
‘I know it’s been like that for a very time, and we have to accept it,’ Henry said of the removal of the away goals rule, ‘But off air I was talking to Jamie (Carragher), and I was like, “how can you score three goals away from home and you don’t have an advantage?”
‘Away goals for me were massive, you score three goals away and you still don’t have an advantage 0-0 at home,’ Henry shrugged.
UEFA took the decision to scrap the rule which gave goals scored away from home the ability to act as a tiebreaker in the case of level scorelines ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Current FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger claimed during his time as Arsenal manager in 2015 that the away goals rule ‘encouraged the team at home not to attack’ and that ‘the weight of the away goal (was) too big today’.
Without the rules, the tie at San Siro will go to extra time and penalties to decide which teams books their spot in the Champions League final.
But based on Wednesday evening’s performance, Henry seemed to give Inter a fighting chance against the newly minted Copa del Rey champions.
The 2025 London Marathon set a new world record for the number of finishers despite hot conditions on Sunday for its 45th edition.
A total of 56,640 runners crossed the finish line at the end of the 26.2-mile route, Guinness World Records has confirmed.
The number surpassed the previous record of 55,646 set by the New York Marathon in November.
Hugh Brasher, chief executive of London Marathon Events, said he hoped the high number of finishers inspired people to apply for the 2026 race ballot.
“The London Marathon was already the most popular in terms of ballot entries, with 840,318 people applying for the 2025 race,” he said.
“It is also the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event with more than £1.3bn raised for charity since 1981.”
The number of people applying for the ballot to enter this year’s race broke the world record of 578,304 for the 2024 edition.
Of UK applicants 49% were female, while there was a 105% increase in applications from people aged between 20-29.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa surged to victory in the elite women’s race in a world record for a women’s only field, while Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe triumphed in the men’s event.