Vice Chairman of Lobi Stars FC of Makurdi, Mike Idoko has expressed hope that the NPFL Super 6 would be well projected by the media.
Chief Operating Officer of the League Management Company(LMC), Salihu Abubakar has shed more light on the schedule for the NPFL Super 6 which will witness matches played under floot light.
Nasarawa United striker, Thomas Adeshina has described the 2018/19 season as a very tough one tagging the abridged format ‘energy sapping’.
Relegated Kwara United FC have moved on and now have their attention focused on the 2019 Federations Cup.
London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal meet in an all-English Europa League final in Baku on Wednesday, 2,500 miles from home.
Former Super Eagles Left back Celestine Babayaro has backed Super Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr’s decision to recall John Mikel Obi back into the Super Eagles ahead of the forthcoming African Cup of Nations in Egypt later this year.
Mikel missed the whole qualifying games for the tournament and has not featured for the Super Eagles since Russia 2018 World Cup.
However Rohr included the experience midfielder in his list of 25 man provisional squad to begin camping in Asaba for the tournament.
Babayaro who won gold medal for Nigeria back in Atlanta 96 has no problems with Obi Mikel’s return to the national team as long as the midfielder is in good form.
”John Obi Mikel has done well for the national team and the man is an experienced midfield player.
”If you look at what Gareth Southgate is doing with the English national team, the man blends young with old.
”He doesn’t just move the old ones immediately, he likes to blend for example Raheem Sterling and Harry Maguire at the back.
”If the national team coach has looked at Mikel who plays at Middlesbrough, if he has watched him play and he’s in-form, why not. If he’s in-form and has played well, I cannot see any reason why he can’t be invited.
”If you have been doing well and playing regularly, I am up for it. If you look at his CV, he has won the Champions League, FA Cup, all kinds of cups. He has done well for himself”. He concluded.
The head coach of Nigeria senior volleyball women’s team, Usman Abdallah has vowed to secure the ticket to the 2019 All Africa Games in Morocco.
The All Africa Games Qualifiers will hold from 2nd to 6th June, 2019 in Abuja.
Abdallah, who revealed that the women’s senior team has been responding positively to training, added that he is not under any pressure to deliver the ticket for his country.
He said, “We have been in camp for almost ten days now and the girls are responding to training. I have also noticed a lot of improvement as far as the team is concerned. Thirty players were invited to camp and trimmed down to 18, it is encouraging.”
He further said, “We were given a job to make sure we get the female team qualified for the All Africa Games, I do not think we are under pressure because the male team qualified. I believe that it is something the players and coaches want the country to qualify.
“The federation has created an enabling environment for Nigeria to qualify. The president is always here to watch the girls train and I think it is also a motivation to have him here all the time.
“Right now, we do not have any professional player in camp but what we are planning is to invite some of them after we qualify for the all Africa Games.
We will try to see to who to invite and those who are ready to help will be invited because they are exposed. Currently, we have new crop of players coupled with old players so that they can mix up,” Abdallah said.
Aruna Quadri was up against club teammate- Diogo Carvalho in the second stage of the preliminary round of men’s single at the 2019 seamasters China Open on Tuesday.
The Nigerian however was the Victor in the encounter, as moved into the next round at the expense of his Club mate.
Despite not been listed among the top ranked 16 seeded players, Quadri got a bye to the second stage of the preliminary round and was set up against Carvalho and the match lived up to expectation as the familiar foes gave the Chinese fans something to cheer during the tie.
The match was difficult for both guys at the beginning but Aruna had to dig deep and produced something special to beat Calvalho ina convincing 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7) win to set up another tie against Portugal’s Diogo Chen later today.
Wahid Oshodi believes standard of the Seamaster ITTF ChallengePlus Nigeria Open rising year by year and it will always attracting world class players across the World.
Oshodi added that this year’s edition will be better than the previous, as the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Nigeria Open promises to be the best ever.
“The knowledge and experience our home based and young playersgain from watching and playing against some of the best players inthe world is invaluable. This in part makes up for the fact that ourplayers lack the necessary exposure which comes from travellingand playing on the circuit.“
“We have been seeing the gains of staging the tournament in thegood performances of our younger players on the Junior Circuit. Wecan see players like Olajide Omotayo, Tobi Falana and NurudeenHassan have improved enough to gain entry into the senior nationalteam.“
“Also importantly thousands of passionate fans and recreationalplayers get to see their heroes at close quarters, thus creating one ofthe most exciting events in our country.“
The competition will be Played in Lagos and begins with two days of qualification on Wednesday 7th August and concludes on Sunday 11th August.
Wahid Oshodi who’s Chair of the Main Organising Committee andChair of the ITTF Nomination Committee, explained that, there are some challenges which has poise a threat to staging big world class event as this, notably funding.
“There are various challenges in staging a tournament of this magnitude, some of the most critical include funding and infrastructural challenges. The tournament has grown in leaps and bounds since it was first conceived and that has led to a need for more funding and an upgrade in terms of the size of the hall and other facilities. The number of people working at the event grows in tandem with the growth in number of the participants. We are very grateful to all the partners who keep supporting the growth of the event.“
However, Oshodi concluded that he’s confident that this year’s edition will attract big players because of the prize money involvedand the improving standard of the tennis tournament.
“We expect a lot more top players. The tournament is now an ITTF Challenge Plus tournament. Lots more prize money $60,000 and the all-important increased points which all the players are aiming to get in a bid for Olympic qualification. This year also with three tournaments preceding the Nigeria Open it will be a fantastic festival of top class table tennis.“
“The Nigerian fans are in for a super treat. This year we have the ITTF Africa (Western Region) Singles Championships, the Africa Clubs Championship and the Africa Singles Cup which is a qualifier for the World Cup all coming up before the Nigeria Open. All packed into two weeks. From July 29 to August 11, we are assured of the best players on the continent and top players from all over the World.“
“From the inquiries we have received so far we are expecting entries from the cream of world table tennis. Apart from the top players in Africa, we are expecting players from all over the world. We had 27 countries last year and we expect to beat that number this year by some margin.
A lot of players ranked within the top 50 of world table tennis have indicated their interest. Once the prospectus is released in the next couple of weeks we expect the entries to flow in.“ Oshodi said.
Abia Warriors attacking winger, Ibrahim Olawoyin could not hide his excitement following his team’s dominant display against Kano Pillars on Sunday at the Umuahia Township Stadium.
Although he failed to register his name in the scoresheet, the youngster’s dazzling runs and delightful crosses were a key component in the 3-0 victory that ensured NPFL safety for the Umuahia-based side.
“I feel very, very great. I really thank God for that,”
“It wasn’t easy because we had just few matches to go but we told ourselves, ‘yes, we can do it’ and I thank God everything ended very well.”
Pointing to the fact that their defeats away from home this season – save for the one against Kano Pillars – all ended with a 1-0 scoreline, with most of the goals coming in the latter stages of the game, Olawoyin admitted that Abia Warriors’ season was marred by inconsistent and unfavourable results, however, he still believes that “hard luck” also played a part in a frustrating 2019 campaign, that saw them flirting with or hovering around relegation for the most part of the season.
“What I actually feel is, we were playing well but we weren’t scoring goals. It’s hard luck,” he said.
On a personal level, the 18-year-old, who was signed from Nigeria National League (NNL) side Abia Comets at the start of the season, is of the opinion that he performed better in the second round, where he scored three goals; against Yobe Desert Stars, FC Ifeanyiubah and Heartland FC.
He did not score in the first round, but eventually emerged as one of the most consistent performers for Abia Warriors this season, his first ever season in the topflight. From the reign of Henry Makinwa to the return of Emmanuel Deutsch, the Osun state-born sensation started all but one of Abia Warriors’ 22 matches.
Olawoyin praised Deutsch’s huge inpact in the team’s survival race. After Makinwa resigned, leaving Abia Warriors in a precarious 11th position in the Group B table, the management of the club convinced Deutsch, who had left the Umuahia-based club last season following the expiration of his contract, to return with six matches left to play. The Cameroonian then spearheaded a turnaround for Abia Warriors as they lost only the first of those six games, which was against Gombe United, and went unbeaten afterwards.
“He really encouraged everybody,” Olawoyin revealed. “When he came back he was like, he is seeing us going for the Super-6, that we can do it. This was before his first match (in charge this season) against Gombe United. He told us to forget about relegation that we shouldn’t even look in that direction. We should look at going for the Super-6.”
Now that the league season has ended for Abia Warriors, Olawoyin, who is hoping that his performance in the NPFL will earn him a national team call up soon, also spoke of his team’s ambition to chase a continental ticket via the Federation Cup.
“With the form we have now, we are not even talking about this match (against Kano Pillars), we are already looking at the Federation Cup and yes, we are going all the way to the final to win the AITEO Cup,” he said.
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