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| Révision : 28/08/2008 |
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Badminton Federation of Nigeria Patricia Nnoshiri-Ayinde , National Stadium, Box 145, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria Telephone No: +234 1 264 6444; +234 1 545 4472 Fax No: +234 1 585 0530; +234 1 585 0529 Email Id: obamiduro@yahoo.com Website: NEANT |
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Première participation Olympique ratée .... Grace
Daniel (24 ans) classée N°1 Afrique et 93° mondiale
a été sélectionnée le 5
mai 2008 pour sa première participation olympique au
titre de la meilleure africain en simple dame.
PALMARES DU BADMINTON AFRICAIN EN SIMPLE DAME AUX J.O.
PEKIN 2008
africa-badminton.com
11/08/2008
 L'egyptienne
Hadia HOSNY, qualifiée à la dernière minute par
la Commission tripartite, a fait honneur à sa sélection. En gagnant son premier match conte la mexicaine ANGULO, elle est devenue la première joueuse de badminton a remporter pour l'Afrique une victoire aux Jeux Olympiques depuis ceux de Barcelone en 1992.
La nigériane Grace DANIEL
n'a pas su saisir sa chance d'égaler la prestation d'Hadia
Hosny,
alors qu'elle avait une adversaire
à sa portée et qu'elle connaissait très bien pour avoir
été
avec elle dans le long stage de
préparation à ces Jeux Olympiques.
La sud africaine Kerry-lee
HARRINGTON, également sélectionnée à la dernière
minute n'avait pas le niveau
pour lutter conte la malaysienne
Wong Mew Choo.
Quant à la mauricienne Karen FOO-KUNE,
sélectionnée par repêchage de la commission tripartite
début juin,
et malgré un tableau difficile,
elle a très vite pris la mesure du badminton de haut
niveau perdant le 1er set
sur le score de 03/21 et en
abandonnant la rencontre à la 10ème minute de jeu sur
blessure.
Elle perd son match sur
le score de : Défaite de la
nigériane Grace Daniel ...
africa-badminton.com 09/08/2008
Samedi 9 août à
14h35 sur le court N°1, la benjamine africaine l'égyptienne
Hadia Hosny (20 ans) rencontrera la benjamine de la compétition
en simple dame, la mexicaine Deyanira Angulo âgée de 17 ans. 2008 Yonex OCBC US Open Grand Prix
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HOSNY Hadia
DANIEL Grace
HARRINGTON K.-L.
FOO-KUNE
Karen
Hadia
HOSNY (
EGY) et
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NIGERIA |
MS Pt + | MS Pt - | MD Pt + | MD Pt - | Set + | Set - |
 China |
+42 | -126 | +26 | -84 | 0 | -8 |
 Canada |
+93 | -126 | +44 | -84 | 0 | -8 |
 England |
+52 | -123 | +1 | -4 | ||
|
Total |
+187 | -375 | +70 | -168 | +1 | -20 |
2008 TUC Day 3: England Wins, But It Was Nigeria’s Night BadZine International 13/05/2008
England
prevented Denmark from being the lone
European flag-bearer in the 2008 Thomas and
Uber Cup quarter-finals this evening after
beating African nation Nigeria 3-0 in the
only tie of the night that dished out a
tiebreaking game. The young English team
will take on hosts Indonesia in the
quarter-finals.
By Jan Lin, reporting live from Senayan Stadium. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)
It was the lone flag-bearer
of the African continent - Nigeria - that
sprung a pleasant surprise on the faithful
crowd that had shown up on an unusually
quiet evening, where quick 3-0 whitewashes
were anticipated across all 4 playing courts
on the third night of the 2008 Thomas and
Uber Cup finals.
England has brought a relatively young team
to the 2008 Thomas Cup with the aim of
giving their youngsters some decent exposure
to a tournament at as high a level as the
Thomas Cup is. Despite resting their singles
ace Andrew Smith, England still fielded a
relatively commendable team with England’s
#2 singles Rajiv Ouseph leading the English
pack.
While the lanky Ouseph might have taken just
18 minutes to finish off Ibrahim
Adamu (pictured top) in straight
games 21-9, 21-8, his fellow Englishmen were
troubled by the resistant Nigerians, who
have given the crowd a display worth
cheering for.
England’s #3 singles of their 2008 Thomas
Cup contingent, Nathan Rice
(pictured right), had a far from comfortable
win against Nigeria’s #2 Jinkam Ifraimu,
whose commendable resilience must have
scared the 25-year-old Englishman. Clearly,
experience and composure came through for
Rice, who did manage to bag the second point
for England with scores of 21-17 and 21-16.
As England’s performance spiraled downwards,
the Nigerians’ just kept getting better!
Nigeria’s 3rd singles player,
Olauluwa Faghemi, was a wall of resistance
against England’s reserve singles player Ben
Beckman. It was a see-saw match that could
have gone either way, just as the crowd
would like it to be.
Coming
from behind to take the 1st game
21-19, the upbeat Nigerian was a constant
threat to the Englishman right through to
the tiebreaker, where a combination of
inexperience and lethargy saw him eventually
succumb 21-19, 15-21, 16-21 in the longest
match of the night (44 minutes).
Nigeria’s head coach, Saujuma Falauchi, was
pleased with his team’s performance in
Jakarta. “The main difference between us
and the Asia powerhouses is the lack of
exposure and opportunities. We don’t get to
travel to the various international
tournaments like they do.
“But I think having traveled to
Jakarta for the Thomas Cup, the other
nations have now seen our standard and now
know what we are capable of if we have as
much resources as they do.”
Faluachi was a former Nigerian international
representative, who represented the African
nation in both singles and doubles at the
Thomas Cup too. With his passionate for the
sport, he revealed that in Nigeria, they do
follow the international badminton scene
closely on television.
The Nigerians clearly have the perfect
physique and attitude for the sport and with
their commendable showing at the 2008 Thomas
Cup, it is understandable why coach Faluachi
knows there is a lot more they can offer to
the sport.
Faluachi said with absolute assurance, “We
hope to bring in foreign coaches. We are in
the process of planning for this, actually.
I believe it will definitely help raise our
current standard to arrive at where the rest
of the world is currently at, soon.”
THOMAS CUP
13/05 (1/16°F):
ENGLAND
-
NIGERIA
: 3 - 0
11/05 :
CHINA
-
NIGERIA
: 5 - 0
11/05 :
CANADA
-
NIGERIA
: 5 - 0
Le Badminton Africain
sera représenté par le Nigeria dans la Thomas Cup (Hommes) et par l'Afrique du Sud dans la Uber Cup (Femmes).
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W.B.F. - INDONESIA
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NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL
(17-20 Juillet 2008) |
Le Nigeria International annoncé sur les
dates du 17 au 20 juillet 2008 pendant
de nombreux mois vient d'être retiré du
calendrier officiel de la W.B.F.
DOSSIER OPEN NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL 2008
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NIGERIA
INTERNATIONAL 2008
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Paixao, Alexandre
( |
Bing Xin, Xu ( |
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Iframu, Jinkam
(
Nigeria)
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Fagbemi, Paul (
Nigeria) |
Bing Xin, Xu (
China) -
Filipa Lamy
(
Portugal) |
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Daniel, Grace(
Nigeria)
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Okuonghae, Greg (
Nigeria) |
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INTERVIEW ACCORDE AU WEBMAGAZINE AFRICA-BADMINTON.COM PAR L’ENTRAINEUR NATIONAL NIGERIAN MR. MUHAMMAD A. BAKO
Africabad
: Bonjour Mr Muhammad
Bako, bienvenue sur le 1er site africain consacré
entièrement au badminton.
Africabad1 :
D’entrée de jeu, comment jugez vous le niveau de ce
tournoi ?
MUHAMMAD BAKO :
I saw the level of the competition as high, because we
have good team of different countries and the quality of
the matches are fantastic. The tournament being until
series, makes it good and attractive.
Africabad2
: Pas de All Africa Badminton Championship 2008, que
pensez vous de cela?
MUHAMMAD BAKO :
Actually we Nigerian, we have waiting pick the title
atteast for the first time instead of coming second all
the time. That is the disappointing aspect for the
cancelling of the championship, but again the African
players needed the ranking points, so it is still in
line with the decision taken by the BWF. But, the
junior championship will be taken place every year,
while the senior African bi-annual.
Africabad3
: Votre équipe représentera l’Afrique dans 1 mois à
Jakarta ; Avez vous foi en vos athlètes et quelles
promesses pour l’Afrique?
MUHAMMAD BAKO :
Our team is preparing hard to make positive impact in
the Thomas Cup, as you know this is the first time that
any black African nation that took in the Thomas Cup. As
such I believe that Nigeria will not let Africa down,
will try as possible to get a better ranking even if we
did not win any medal.
Africabad4
: L’Afrique sera représentée au Jeux Olympique à Pékin,
à votre avis y a t’il des possibilités de médailles ?
MUHAMMAD BAKO :
I think is not wet time for any African country to win a
medal at the Olympics , but I strongly believe very soon
, we will start winning in the Olympics with the
introduction of our grades tournament , that will expose
our players very well.
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SOUVENIRS DU NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL 2008 les photos sont réduites (taille normales 2800 x 2100) Crédit photos ©africa-badminton.com |
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| Le Juge Arbitre A. Reynolds (RSA) | Le Team Arbitral | Ana Moura avec Jacques Owono | G. Daniel (Nigeria) |
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Le Team Portugal |
Le Team Ghana |
Le Team Nigeria |
K. Mehrabi(Iran) |
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| N.CHINGA/B.MPIWA (Botswana) | E. Mambwe (Zambia) | R. Rai (U.S.A.) | S.A. Gomez (Australia) |
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E. Ekiring (Uganda) |
Le Team Cameroun |
Le Team Cameroun (2) |
Un Bel Open ! |
Alex Paixao of Portugal defeated United States’ Raji Rai
21-17, 9-21 and 21-16 to win the men’s single final.
Quelques mots sur le Nigeria International 2008 ... Jacques Salvet OWONO Envoyé Spécial à Lagos (Nigeria) Pour Africa-badminton.com 29/04/2008
Le
NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 est désormais
ancré dans les mémoires de tous. Au seul regard de la dextérité avec laquelle le comité d’organisation a tenu cet évènement, qui a vu la forte implication de WBF par son représentant MR CEPHAS LAR 2ème vice-président de la WBF, on peut simplement tirer un coup de chapeau à tous ceux qui de près où de loin se sont montrés disponibles surtout en connaissance de son enjeu l’enjeu puisqu'il était qualificatif pour les J.O. de Pékin.
On ne pouvait fermer cet Open sans saluer la "NIGERIA TEAM" qui à presque tout gagné lors de ces Internationaux. Tenez ces chiffres (1er en double mixte, en double hommes ; 2ème en simple dame, en double dames, en double mixte, en double messieurs) … n’est-ce pas là des performances qui font rêver ! Oui vous allez me dire que tous les autres ténors n’étaient pas présents :Afrique du Sud, Iles Maurice, Seychelles, Algérie … Peut être était-ce à cause de l’annulation du "All Africa Champoinships" qui devait se tenir juste après ce Nigeria International, ou bien parce que certains avaient déjà leur ticket pour les J.O.
Quoi qu'il en soit, on a pu voir une équipe du Nigéria dominer son sujet ce qui est de bon augure pour sa très prochaine participation en mai à la Thomas Cup à Jakarta (Indonésie).
Cependant, nos félicitations vont à l’endroit des badistes Camerounais, Botswanais, Mozambicains, Ghanéens qui, avec bravoure, et pour l’amour du badminton ont répondu présent à l’appel. Je vous fais grâce des coûts et des moyens de déplacement … Ils marqueront sans doute des points dans le classement WBF.
Maintenant reste donc à suivre ce rythme qui, pour nous joueurs Africains, sans appui de la part des autorités sportives sera difficile, pire encore si c’est juste pour un Open, et pas un Championnat d’Afrique. A bon entendeur …
QUESTION
D’ANNULATION ET DE REPORT DU ALL AFRICA 2008 :
QUELQUES AVIS DES JOUEURS AFRICAINS
Ce n'est plus un secret pour personne et surtout pas pour les joueurs Africains de Badminton qui se sont vu annuler leur seul leitmotiv. Comme cela se confirme et semble être officiel depuis quelques semaines déjà, la BCA et la WBF se mettent d’accord pour que les Championnats d’Afrique version Seniors se tiennent désormais tous les deux ans. Raison évoquée dans les coulisses, les joueurs africains marquent énormément de points pour leur classement BCA et WBF après chaque année de Championnat d’Afrique ce qui défavorise les autres continents qui, d’après eux, le font chaque deux ans aussi. Donc, on maintiendra juste les championnats d’Afrique version Junior chaque année et les seniors devront donc se préparer pour l’édition de 2009, ensuite 2011 et ainsi de suite.
Mais alors,
si telle est la décision, entre temps que feront les badistes
Africains ? Des camps d’entraînements ! Des Opens Africains, qui eux
mêmes sont déjà convoités par les Européens et Asiatiques qui en
font leur priorité voir leur propriété.
On doit se demander si la BCA a su défendre les intérêts des
badistes Africains, qui sans moyens financiers, sans véritable
politique de formation et parfois abandonnés par leurs fédérations
respectives, sont obligés de se plier en quatre pour faire une
compétition Internationale ; exception faite de quelques uns des
joueurs Africains qui bénéficient des bourses Olympiques entre
autres.
La compétition sur le continent afrique n'est pas suffisante
actuellement et bien des contraintes interdisent aux joueurs de
participer à des tournois au delà du continent. La conséquence
immédiate est une énorme difficulté à faire des points dans le
classement mondial.
LES BADISTES AFRICAINS S’EXPRIMENT SUR LA QUESTION D’ANNULATION DES CHAMPIONNATS D’AFRIQUE DE BADMINTON 2008
All Africa Badminton Championship 2008 was cancelled , what your impression?
Solomon Mensah
Nyarko from GHANA:
Is not good because each year new players come into the system and it help us to know our level in Africa ; each year which makes you know weather you are improving or not.
Mpiwa Bosenogile
from BOTSWANA:
I was very sad and disappointed by the cancellation of the All Africa Championship. I have trained for a long time for this event, but to be cancelled at the last hour is a sad thing.
Noumsi
Fotso Armand du CAMEROUN:
C’est une nouvelle qui ne m’a mise mal à l’aise , car ça allait être mon premier Championnat d’Afrique de badminton, mais je garde le moral, je vais me contenter de l’Open International du Nigeria, c’est triste, j’imagine l’ambiance qui allait être.
PAROLE AUX JOUEURS ETRANGERS PRESENTS AU NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL BADMINTON CHAMPIOSHIP 2008
INTERVIEW
ACCORDE A LA JOUEUSE PORTUGAISE ANA LUISA FLÖR MOURA
Africabad :
Bonjour Moura et merci de répondre aux 3
questions du 1er site africain du badminton.
Africabad1 : Premièrement on vous voit très
régulièrement ton équipe et toi dans les Opens Africains
ces derniers temps, que peut nous valoir ces visites
répétées ?
ANA MOURA: Make points for
the world ranking, so that I can go to the Olympic
Games.
Africabad2: Et cet Open, comment le trouvez-vous, le
niveau de la compétition ?
ANA MOURA: Very good
level, high ranked players.
Africabad3: Les jeux Olympiques c’est dans 3 mois,
pensez vous que les Africains qui seront présents ont
une chance de médaille?
ANA MOURA: It’s very hard
for players outside Asia to get a medal in the Olympics,
not only the Africans but also players from America and
Europe.
Africabad4: Ana, merci et Bonne Chance pour les J.O.
Africabad : Bonjour Mr ANDREW, vous êtes en Direct sur le site www.africa-badminton.com , merci de donner votre sentiment après cet Open International du Nigeria où vous avez officié comme Juge Arbitre accrédité par la WBF.
Africabad 1 : Nous avons observé une passivité de la part des arbitres et juges de lignes qui à chaque fois ne s’accordaient pas sur des décisions, il a toujours fallu que vous veniez rétablir l’ordre en sapeur pompier. Avez-vous le sentiment d’avoir atteint votre objectif durant cette compétition ?
MR ANDREW RENOLDS:
The Nigeria International was a prestigious event held in Lagos.
The spirit of the tournament was high with many local and
International participants. It was well organized and run. The only
draw back came in the form of some poor umpiring decisions which had
competitive tempers flaring on court.
All in all the final results were a true reflection of the athletes
and all participants went away winners.
Beijing 2008: Nigeria’s Chances Improve with Badminton Success By Femi Atoyebi, 04.21.2008 This Day Onlines Nigeria
Nigeria International Badminton Championship ended over
the weekend at the Badminton section of Ikoyi Club 1938,
with Germany based Grace Daniels, picking the sole
ticket to represent Africa at the forthcoming Olympic
Games in Beijing.
The championship, which doubled as Africa Olympic
qualifier for badminton event in Beijing was well
attended, with players coming from The United States,
Portugal, Spain Australia, Botswana, Zambia, Uganda,
Ghana, Cameroon, Canada, China, Mozambique, Iran and
host Nigeria.
Speaking after picking the ticket, Grace, who lost the
women’s singles’ final to Bring Xin Xu of China
expressed gratitude to Nigeria Olympic Committee, who
gave her a scholarship to attend all qualifying games
and train in Germany.
“Losing in this tournament’s final means that I still
have to work hard in order to win an Olympics medal in
Badminton. I can’t understand why I lost because I gave
it my all but I will watch the video again and see where
corrections are required. Am happy to pick the
qualifying ticket however and promise to do my best for
Nigeria,” said the 24 year old from Kaduna
State, who started playing in 1994.
Alex Paix of Portugal defeated United States’ Raji Rai
21-17, 9-21 and 21-16 to win the men’s single final.
While eulogising Grace’s effort and patriotism,
President of Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN),
Mohammed Kabir Badamasuiy said the championship,
sanctioned by Badminton World Federation helped
Nigeria’s youngsters showcased their talents among world
best players, stressing the BFN’s readiness to always
help the growth of the game in Nigeria.
“The championship will be used to rank all participants
and it is one of Africa’s circuits, the rest being South
Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius and Algeria
internationals. Grace is the only African that will
compete in Badminton in Beijing, making her the
continent’s best. I am delighted to announce that
Nigeria’s male team has also qualified to represent
Africa in Thomas Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia in May.
It is an equivalent of Soccer World Cup and we need
N9.5million to be there, but we are yet to secure
sponsors. We thank Ikoyi Club and our sponsors for the
championship we hosted, but we still need help to be in
the world Badminton circle.”
Nigeria: Haruna Lauds Daniel's Olympics Qualification Daily Trust (Abuja) 23 April 2008 Abdulraheem Aodu Kaduna
Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) Chair- man,
Technical Commit-tee Dr Farouk Haruna has lauded the
qualification of Grace Daniel for the Beijing Olympics,
which kicks off in August.
Farouk, who has been instrumental to the training and
development of the badminton players at Ahmadu Bello
Univer-sity Zaria where he is the director of sports,
called for support from the National Sports Commission (NSC)
and the organised private sector to ensure that Nigeria
takes its rightful place at the apex of the game in
Africa.
"We are happy that Nigeria will be represented at the
Beijing Olympic Games. Grace Daniel qualification is a
testimony of what Nigeria badminton players can achieve
if given the necessary support. Another player Dotun
Akinsanya would have qualified too but his scholarship
was terminated due to political motivation.
"The National Sports Commission (NSC) and private
organisations should assist us to sponsor badminton
players. We have good players who are the best in Africa
but they lacked the necessary logistic supports to
catapult them to the world stage where their talents can
be adequately appreciated.
"Badminton players must attend at least three major
international competitions to earn points and ranks that
would qualify them for major interna-tional tournaments
like the Oly-mpics and world championships. That is
where South Africa has been able to upstage us. Despite
the fact that they are not as good as Nigerian players,
they have the logistics to attend these international
tournaments that matters. They even organise and host
some competitions themsel-ves to ensure that their
players qualify for these major tourna-ments.
"Most of our players are elites in the university where
they are training and studying as well. We have about 10
of them at ABU who are into bachelor degree courses in
various endeavours," the member of LOC Kaduna 2008
national Sports Festival added.
|
2008 KLRC Atwater Canadian
International |
Ottawa
(Canada) 22 au 26 Avril 2008
Olanrewaju, Ogunseye A. :
Badminton prospect, Daniel, qualify for Olympics Monday, 21 April 2008 Daily Trust Nigeria
In spite of her 1-2
loss to China, Grace Daniel, Nigeria's Badminton
prospect for the August Beijing Olympics on Saturday in
Lagos qualified for the event.
She lost to Bing Xin Xu of China at the final of Nigeria
International Badminton Championship held at Ikoyi Club
1938.
Daniel, who lost the first set by 17-21, came second
with a good display of combination of forearm and
backhand to outplay her opponent at the second set by
21-9.
She lost the third set to a more experienced Chinese who
has also won the Olympic qualifier by 6-21.
In a post-match interview with the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN), Daniel attributed her defeat to loss of
concentration.
``The championship was very challenging with lot of good
players participating. It was an Olympic qualifier every
player want to be. So, we all gave our best.
"I think the championship has confirmed to me that I
need to work harder. I lost concentration after winning
the second set having lost the first.
"There is, no doubt, my opponent is experienced, exposed
and has better training than me,"' said Daniel.
She, however, promised that with more training and
exposure she would attain better standard.Daniel said
she would embark on training tour to prepare for the
Olympics. "I am embarking on training tour immediately
towards preparation for the Olympics.'' She added: ``Although,
I am not promising gold at the Olympics but I am sure I
am going to do well because my game has greatly improved
with my Germany experience."
Andrew Renold, South African referee, said Daniel was
Africa's best female player but stressed that she needed
to improve on her techniques to make an impact in the
world.
``Daniel has a lot of power in her hit but lacks
techniques. That was what her opponent used. She is a
talented player and I believe she can improve by
participating in competitions,'' he said.
In the other results, Alex Paixao of Portugal beat Raji
Rai of America 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) in the men's singles
while in the women's double, the pair of Chinas Bing Xin
Xu and Filipa Lawu beat Nigeria's Daniel and Mary Gideon
by 2-0.
The mixed and men's doubles were dominated by Nigeria as
the pair of Greg Okunghae and Daniel beat Akeem Ogunleye
and Mary Gideon 2-0 while the duo of Jinkam Ifrem and
Ola Fagbemi defeated Okunoghae and Ogunleye 2-1.
NAN reports that winners in the five categories shared
the 5, 000 dollar prize money at stake at the
competition.
Nigeria: International Badminton Tourney Begins Today Leadership (Abuja) 17 April 2008
All is
now set for today's opening of the Nigeria International
Badminton Championships, with the arrival of players
from more than 23 countries.
According to NAN, Mobee Kayode, a member of the
tournament's accommodation sub-committee said players
from the U.S., South Africa, Cameroon and Mozambique
were among the early arrivals. Ikoyi Club 1938 is
hosting the championships, which will also serve as
qualifiers for the Beijing Olympics.
"Our committee members were at the Murtala Mohammed
International Airport on Monday night to receive some of
the participants," Kayode said.
He said all welfare related issues for the players were
being handled by the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN)
with the support of the Ikoyi Club 1938.
"Accommodation arrangements have been concluded. This is
an international competition and their welfare is of
international standard," said Kayode, who is also the
Lagos Badminton Association Secretary.
The sport's world governing body, the International
Badminton Federation (IBF) approved the Championship
which is expected to end Saturday.
A cash prize of $1,000 each, will go to the winners of
the men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles
and mixed doubles. Nigeria is expected to feature two
teams in the tournament, comprising 12 males and 12
females. Olumide Bamiduro, secretary of the association
said the championship apart from being an Olympic
qualifier would afford players the opportunity to garner
more points that would shore up their rankings at the
international stage.
En direct d'Abuja :
Le N°1 africain Nabil Lasmari
déclare forfait à l'Open du
Nigéria.
(Africa badminton
Envoyé spécial J. Owono
16/04/2008 20h30)
Nigeria: Badminton - Nigeria Hosts Olympic Qualifiers This Day (Lagos) 16 April 2008 Femi Atoyebi Lagos
About
40 international players drawn from around the world
will converge at the Ikoyi Club 1938 for the Nigeria
International Badminton Championship from today, with
the grand finale coming up on Saturday.
According to the President, Badminton Federation of
Nigeria (BFN), Mohammed Kabir Badamasuiy, the
championship will produce African finalists for the
Olympic Games in Beijing, with Nigeria hopeful, Grace
Daniels expected to seal her participation for the
global tournament. He said apart from picking tickets
for the Olympic party, $ 5,000 prize money is at stake
for first three winners among other prizes.
"The purpose of hosting this tournament is to announce
Nigeria's glorious return to the game, but more
importantly to see Grace Daniels pick her ticket to
represent Nigeria and Africa in Beijing. A gap was
created between Nigeria and the rest of the world in
badminton because in the past six years, the country's
name was not heard due to lack of sponsors and
organisation, thankfully, we have a couple of sponsors
ready to help Nigeria take her place in global
badminton. Grace is able to go this far because she
trained in Germany."
The Nigerian is top in Africa at the moment with about
13,000 points, followed by another player from Mauritius.
15 players will represent Nigeria at the tournament in
the male and female categories, with an eye on giving
future players the needed international exposure.
Among the participant is American Raju Rai, who has
already booked an Olympic ticket. He said despite
realising a long-nurtured dream of playing in an
Olympics, he is in Nigeria to prove his readiness. "I
want to win here and build on it in Beijing," he said.
Players from other countries are already in the country
for the event.
Abuja (Nigeria) Du 17 au 20 Avril 2008
|
US$ 5,000 |
 S. Pohl  USA |
 R. Rai USA |
 Y. Martinez  ESP |
 C.Longo ESP |
 K. Mehrabi  IRA |