Federation Cup: Big Battles Begin Wednesday

The Round of 64 matches of this year’s Federation Cup competition will start across the federation on Wednesday.

Huge battles loom, with ABS of Iloring clashing with elite division new boys Giwa FC in Minna and Heartland FC keeping a date with Ebonyi United in Umuahia, while the clash between Wikki Tourists and El-Kanemi Warriors in Gombe headline the matches for Thursday.

Kwara United FC and Sharks of Port Harcourt clash in Benin City, Dynamite FC of Benin City and Rancher Bees of Kaduna meet in Lokoja and Akwa United must overcome FC Abuja in Enugu.

Kano Pillars go up against Gateway FC in Lokoja, Gombe United and Baton FC of Imo tango in Ilorin and Enyimba FC will take on Sokoto North FC in Abuja.

There are only two matches in the women’s section, with Rising Queens of Ondo tackling Ebonyi Babes in Warri on Wednesday while Tin City FC of Jos clash with Tokas Queens in Lokoja on Friday.

2014 FEDERATION CUP ROUND OF 64

WEDNESDAY (02-07-2014)

Enyimba Vs Sokoto North (FIFA Goal Project, Abuja, 4pm)

Zara Studio (Kebbi) Vs Niger Tornadoes (Gusau)

CBN Cashless (Jigawa) Vs Nembe City (Katsina-Ala, 4pm)

Ibom Youth Vs Katsina Sportlight (Lafia)

Heartland FC Vs Ebonyi United (Umuahia)

Kwara United Vs Sharks FC (Benin City)

APA United Vs Ekiti United (Lokoja, 2pm)

Nasarawa United Vs Young Elephants (Jos, 4pm)

Bobbies FC Vs Ajiroba FC (Enugu)

ABS FC Vs Giwa FC (Minna)

Yarmalight FC Vs Jigawa Stars (Kaduna)

AS Racine Vs FC Taraba (FIFA Goal Project, Abuja, 2pm)

Sky Academy FC Vs Plateau United (Gombe)

Abia Warriors Vs Mafara United FC (Old Parade Ground, Abuja)

Dolphins FC Vs Ingas FC (Warri)

Remo Stars Vs Bayelsa United (Rojenny)

FC Lokoja Vs First Bank FC (Akure)

Gombe United Vs Baton FC (Ilorin)

THURSDAY

Dalhatu FC Vs 3SC FC (FIFA Goal Project, Abuja, 4pm)

Dynamite FC Vs Rancher Bees (Lokoja, 2pm)

Kaduna United Vs Leopard FC (Katsina-Ala, 4pm)

Bright Stars Vs Crown FC (Benin City)

Bendel Insurance Vs Sunshine Stars (Kaduna, 4pm)

Enugu Rangers Vs Ikpeazu FC (Umuahia)

Lobi Stars Vs Tornadoes Feeders (Jos, 2pm)

Wikki Tourists Vs El-Kanemi Warriors (Gombe)

Yobe Desert Stars Vs Kogi United (Jos, 4pm)

Binani FC Vs FRSC (Katsina-Ala, 2pm)

Akwa United Vs FC Abuja (Enugu)

Gateway FC Vs Kano Pillars (Lokoja, 4pm)

Prime FC Vs El-Kanemi Babes (Minna)

Dan Buran FC Vs Warri Wolves (Area 3, Abuja)

WOMEN FEDERATION CUP

Rising Queens Vs Ebonyi Babes (Warri) – Wednesday

Tokas Queens Vs Tin City FC (Lokoja) – Friday

Ukraine Drop 2022 Bid In Favour of 2026 Olympics Bid

London 2012 OG, Olympic Village – The Olympic
flag.
© 2012 / Comité International Olympique
(CIO) / FURLONG, Christopher

Following positive discussions between the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine, Sergey Bubka, all parties have agreed that Lviv will turn its attention to an Olympic bid for 2026, and not continue with its application for 2022.

The decision comes as a result of the present political and economic circumstances in Ukraine, which were discussed between the three parties.

“The preliminary evaluation by the IOC’s working group found that the Lviv bid offered huge potential for future development,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “In my discussions with the Ukrainian Prime Minster and NOC President, we concluded that it would be extremely difficult to pursue the 2022 bid under the current circumstances, but that a future bid would make sense for Ukraine and Ukrainian sport.”

The Ukrainian Prime Minister agreed that “a bid for 2026 would have excellent potential for the economic recovery of the country, and could have huge benefits for Ukrainian society”.

For the NOC, President Sergey Bubka added: “We would like to thank the IOC very much for its help and understanding, as well as the great assistance that it has given to Ukrainian athletes from all parts of the country, both morally and financially.”

Iran reach first final and Serbia still in contention while Cuba take Group 3 gold

Iran booked their place in the World League final for the first time in their history with a convincing 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) victory over Poland in Tehran on Sunday evening.

The result means Iran move level on points with Italy at the top of Pool A and look forward to a double-header with bottom-placed Poland in the final pool matches (4-5 July).

“When we started the World League with two defeats, nobody believed in my team but we proved that we have the quality to go through,” said Iran coach Slobodan Kovac. “It’s important that we win our next matches in Poland and finish top of the group.”

The Iranian team gave notice of their intentions by racing into a 4-0 lead in the first set and, despite a solid start from Poland in set two, never looked like relinquishing their advantage at the Azadi Sports Complex.

A hard-fought third set came to an end when the home team took four successive points to settle the match thanks to a towering spike from Amir Ghafour.

In Pool B, Serbia kept their hopes alive of a place in the final with a straightforward 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-14) win over Bulgaria in Nis. Serbia now sit one point behind second-placed Russia going into the final round of matches.

Results elsewhere on week six mean France are still dreaming of qualifying for the final six in Firenze (16-20 July) thanks to a powerful 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16) win over Argentina.

Led by top scorer Mory Sidibé, with 13 points, the result means that France qualify for Group 2’s final four in Sydney (11-13 July), although coach Laurent Tillie says his side “have to improve in many areas” if they are to finish among the honours.

They could be joined in Australia by the Netherlands, who had to work hard to earn a 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 18-25, 25-19, 15-9) victory over Korea at the Chungmu Indoor Gymnasium in Daejeon.

Inspired by the strong serving of Robin Overbeeke and the quick attacks of Michael Parkinson, the Netherlands kept the faith after seeing their 1-0 lead from the first set turn into a 2-1 deficit. They finished the day sitting on top of Pool E.

Iran’s Adel Gholami spikes against the Polish one-man block by Piotr Nowakowski
Photo Credit: FIVB Media

GROUP 3 GOLD FOR CUBA, CHINA TAKE BRONZE

There was gold for Cuba in Group 3 as they won a gruelling five-setter (26-24, 19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 16-14) against hosts Turkey to edge the final match in Bursa.

The Turks had been the only team to beat Cuba in this year’s World League, in the Intercontinental Round, but despite their best efforts were unable to repeat that success on Sunday in front of a spirited home crowd.

Captain Rolando Cepeda led the way for Cuba with 28 points, ably supported by Santiago Uriarte (22), while Turkey top scorer was Toy Metin (17).

The bronze medal in Group 3 went to China, who had lost narrowly to Cuba in Saturday’s semifinal.

The Chinese, who had lost 3-0 to their Slovakian opponents 15 days earlier, dropped the first set but fought back to win 3-1 (21-25, 39-37, 25-23, 25-19), with victory in the second set – the longest in the competition so far – giving them a huge boost.

There was joy too for Japan. In their final FIVB Volleyball World League match of the season, Masashi Nambu’s side recovered from throwing away a two set advantage to record their first win, beating Germany 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 23-25, 17-15).

“Since this team started out a year-and-a-half ago we have suffered so much,” said Japan captain Yu Koshikawa, who scored 22 points for his side. “Now we have finally won, and we can see what winning feels like. I think it will accelerate our growth as a team.”

14-Year-old American Headlines Final ITTF World Cup Qualification Events

14-year-old Kanak JHA (USA) has became the youngest winner of a continental event, by winning the 2014 ITTF-North American Cup, which qualifies him for the ITTF World Cup later in the year.

JHA will be joined at the ITTF World Cup by the 2014 ITTF-North American Cup Women’s champion, Canada’s ZHANG Mo, and the 2014 ITTF-African Cup Men’s and Women’s Champions, Nigeria’s Quadri ARUNA and Egypt’s Dina MESHREF.

The ITTF-North American Cup and ITTF-African Cup were the final two qualification events for the 2014 Men’s and Women’s ITTF World Cups, which are two of the most prestigious table tennis events on the ITTF calendar.

Only 20 of the best table tennis players in the world qualify for these top events. The 2014 editions will take place in:

Women’s World Cup, 17 – 19 Oct 2014, Place TBD

LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup, 24 – 26 Oct 2014, Dusseldorf, Germany.

The 2014 ITTF-North American Cup was staged in Burnaby, Canada from 25 Jun to 26 Jun 2014. In the Men’s finals, Kanak JHA overcame compatriot Adam HUGH in five games (12-10, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-4) to secure the Men’s title.

14-year-old Kanak JHA (USA) creates history by winning the ITTF-North American Cup which qualifies him for the ITTF World Cup. Photo Credit: ITTF.

After his victory, the 14 year old stated “In the finals, I knew that I had what it takes to beat him (Adam HUGH), but it was mostly a mental game. It was important to win the first few games to set the tone of the match.”

“I never expected to come to the finals and even make it to the World Cup! I am very happy and I definitely will play my best there, it will be a great experience.”

Meanwhile, Canada’s top ranked player ZHANG Mo defeated USA’s rising star, 12 year old Crystal WANG four-one (11-4, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-7) in the Women’s finals to secure the top position on the podium.

ZHANG will be making her third appearance in the Women’s World Cup, she played previously in 2009 and 2010. She stated: “The home crowd is great, helping me a lot! I am really happy to be qualified for the Women’s World Cup again, after missing it for three years.”

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Nigeria hosted the 2014 ITTF-Africa Cup in the city of Lagos which Nigeria’s Quadri ARUNA and Egypt’s Dina MESHREF emerged successful in the Men’s & Women’s Singles respectively.

Defeated in the semifinals of the recent Nigeria Open, Quadri ARUNA had his sweet revenge against the top seed, Egypt’s Omar ASSAR in the semifinals of the 2014 ITTF Africa Cup.

Champion, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri (standing second left back); Egypt’s El-Sayed Lashin; Egypt’s OmarAssar; Nigeria’s Segun Toriola; Vice President, Technical, African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Balla Lo; President, ATTF, Khaled El-Salhy and Francis Egbiri of National Sports Commission (NSC) during the final of the Africa Top 16 Cup at the weekend in Lagos

He eventually took down the defending champion, El-Sayed LASHIN (EGY) in the finals showdown in a tight 7-games match (11-9, 13-15, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2).

The 25-year-old Nigerian shared on his win: “This victory meant a lot to me and it is the beginning of a new era in my career because it will surely improve my ranking.”

In the Women’s Singles finals, Dina MESHREF overcame Quadri ARUNA’s compatriot Olufunke OSHONAIKE in 4 straight games (11-6, 13-11, 11-9, 16-14) to secure her ticket to the Women’s World Cup.

After her triumph, the Egyptian heroine stated: “It was not an easy match but I am so happy winning. I am excited to represent Africa at the World Cup and I hope I can win a medal there!”

JHA, ZHANG, ARUNA and MESHREF join the following players that have qualified for the Men’s and Women’s World Cups:

DHS 2014 Europe Cup: LI Jiao (NED), LIU Jia (AUT), Viktoria PAVLOVICH (BLR), Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER), Marcos FREITAS (POR), Michael MAZE (DEN)

GAC 2014 Honda Asian Cup: DING Ning (CHN), LI Xiaoxia (CHN), YU Mengyu (SIN), MA Long (CHN), Jun MIZUTANI (JPN)

K-Sport 2014 ITTF-Oceania Cup: William HENZELL (AUS), LAY Jianfang (AUS)

2014 ITTF-Latin America Cup: Cazuo MATSUMOTO (BRA), Caroline KUMAHARA (BRA)
Current World Champions ZHANG Jike (CHN) and LI Xiaoxia(CHN) also qualified directly.

The additional places will be based on world ranking on those who participated in the Continental Cups but did not gain an automatic qualification position.

Quick links:

2014 ITTF-North America Cup
Results, Schedule: http://bit.ly/2014NACup
Photos: http://bit.ly/1qYvCoE

2014 ITTF-Africa Cup
Results, Schedule: http://bit.ly/2014AfricaCup
Photos: http://bit.ly/1oeBOWl

Continental Cup Results: http://bit.ly/SGSPNI

Upcoming ITTF calendar: http://bit.ly/1bicxrF

FALCONETS PIPS BLACK PRINCESSES BY A LONE GOAL

The falconets continued their build up to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada pipping Ghana by a lone goal. the only goal of the match was scored by chiwendu Ihezou in the 45 minutes of the first half.

The friendly is the last of the four series of International for the two sides.

The first few minutes of the game saw both teams making frantic efforts to secure a goal but it was the Ghanaians that came close with a shot at goal but the Falconets Goalkeeper was up to the task.

With a disappointing display by the Falconets on Friday against Ghana, the Nigerian Team was determined to get it right this time.

The Falconets played an impressive match, forcing their opponents to defend a lot.

Both teams missed many scoring opportunities, but Nigeria got an edge in the 45th minutes through Chinwendu Ihezou to break the deadlock and put the team ahead of the visitors.

First half ended 1 nil in favour of the Falconets.

On resumption of the second half the Black Princess made efforts to make the score even but the Falconets defence put up a stiff resistance.

Both teams made substitutions with the aim of testing the players and to strengthen their sides.

Falconets head coach, Peter Dedevbo, said the girls played as a team.

“I am impressed with the team’s performance today, there was cohesion among the players,they put on a tremendous fight. Though I was not concerned about goals, but rather the physical and mental capability of the team since this is a friendly game. The goal however, came and i am so happy”. Dedevbo said.

He added that the team needs to improve on ball finishing .

” They had many scoring chances, but could not execute them well. We shall work on that before the world cup”.

Ghanaian head coach, Bashir Hayford, said the Nigerian side played very well. He further praised his girls and hoped that with the preparations both teams will shine in Canada.

” We lost to a better side, but remember the Falconets are playing at home which was an added advantage. We are going back with some lessons to work on the team”.

The Falconets line up:

1. Sandra Chiichii (90mins),

2.Jiroro Idike(90 mins),

3.Ebere Okoye (62 mins),

4.Asisat Oshoala(90 mins),

5. Victoria Aidelomon(90 mins),

6.Sarah Nnodim(90 mins),

7.Halima Ayinde(90 mins),

8.Loveth Ayila(65 mins),

9. Chinwendu Ihezou (70 mins),

10. Ogechi Ukuoma(59mins),

11. Yetunde Adeboyejo (60 mins),

12. Ugo Njoku(28mins),

13.Osas Igbinovia(31 mins),

14.Sunday Uchechi (20 mins),

15. Chidinma Edeji(25 mins),

16.Uchenna Kanu (30 mins).