Nigeria’s leading marathoner, Deborah Pam, has sent a strong warning signal to her competitors at the 2015 edition of the Okpekpe Road Race with an excellent performance at the seventh edition of the Ibadan 42 km marathon tagged ‘Splash FM Integrity Race’ that was held last weekend.
The Plateau state-born athlete who emerged the best Nigerian woman during the last two editions of Okpekpe race won the Ibadan marathon in a record time of 3hrs, 3mins and 23secs.
Pam said after her victory in Ibadan that she had come of age and hopefully she would emerge the overall winner at this year edition of the Okpekpe race in May.
Splash FM Marathon 2014, photo credit splashfm1055.com
“I have been consistent at the competition for the past two years, but I don’t want to settle for less again,” she said.
“I want to become the first Nigerian athlete to win the competition and I will be going back home to intensify preparation for the competition.
“I would have started early but school activities have been affecting my preparation, but with this victory in Ibadan, I can move on from here.”
Meanwhile, the coordinator of the race, Yusuf Alli, has urged the indigenes of Okpekpe community to actively take part in the tournament.
“We want more indigenes of the state to be actively involved in the race, we are really looking forward to the locals winning something and hopefully represent Nigeria at the Olympics,” the former Nigeria international said.
Dolphins FC will return to the league on Wednesday to play a rescheduled game against Abia Warriors.
Dolphins had spent 9 days on a journey to Tunisia and back to play a CAF Confederation Cup game and had two league matches against Abia Warriors in Umuahia and Warri Wolves in Port Harcourt rescheduled.
The team will now play their rescheduled game against Abia Warriors in Umuahia on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 while a date is yet to be fixed for the game against Warri Wolves.
Dolphins have played against Abia Warriors twice in the top flight. In Port Harcourt last season, Dolphins won 3-0 while in Umuahia, Abia Warriors won 2-1.
Victor Ezuruike tries to stop an Enyimba player in the League last season
France’s Eventing riders produced an emphatic win in the first FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing competition of the 2015 season at the weekend in Fontainebleau (FRA).
The French team repeated their 2014 victory when they also won on home soil, and they enjoyed a comfortable winning margin of nearly 30 penalties over Australia, who finished second.
Gwendolen Fer (FRA), riding Romantic Love, was best of the team in individual second place and she had an excellent Cross Country round for just 1.2 time penalties, which was easily the fastest time of the day. Arnaud Boiteau, riding Quoriano ‘ENE HN’, was fourth and newcomer Helen Vattier on Quito de Baliere was ninth.
An all-male Australian trio opted for steadier Cross Country speeds in their first international competition of the year. Christopher Burton was the fastest, clocking 8.8 time penalties on TS Jamaimo, to finish fifth.
Last year, Burton had to withdraw the horse before Cross Country due to colic at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014, so he will no doubt be delighted with TS Jamaimo’s sparkling performance to start the season.
Great Britain, who maintain a policy of fielding younger, up-and-coming riders who have yet to ride on a championship team, also fielded three riders and finished just 0.3 penalties behind Australia. Izzy Taylor, a regular on FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing teams, was the highest placed in sixth on the mare KBIS Briarlands Matilda.
Four teams contested this first of eight competitions in the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing and the Netherlands finished fourth, having dropped from third place after Dressage due to Cross Country time penalties.
One remarkable result from the weekend was that all 14 team members jumped clear across country, although none of them achieved the optimum time of 6 minutes 19 seconds around Fontainebleau’s twisting forest tracks. Fer and Burton were also penalty free in the Jumping stadium.
Germany, winners of two out of the last three series, could not field a team at Fontainebleau, but their leading rider Michael Jung still led from the start to collect individual honours on his wonderful horse La Biosthetique Sam. No doubt the Germans will be out, all guns blazing, before long.
The FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing next crosses the Irish Sea, to the Fell family’s hospitable event at Ballindenisk in County Cork (IRL) next month, which last year produced a win for the British team.
Gwendolen Fer (FRA) and Romantic Love scored the fastest time on Cross Country, helping France to win the first leg of FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 at Fontainebleau, France (Eric Knoll/FEI).
Results
1 France, 148.3
Gwendolen Fer/Romantic Love, 45.3; Arnaud Boiteau/Quoriano ‘ENE HN’, 47.4; Helen Vattier/Quito de Baliere, 55.6; (Karim Florent Laghouag/Entebbe de Hus, 58.2)
2 Australia, 178.0
Christopher Burton/TS Jamaimo, 50.8; Paul Tapner/Kilronan, 59.4; Kevin McNab/Casperelli, 67.8
3 Great Britain, 179.7
Izzy Taylor/KBIS Briarlands Matilda, 51.6; Flora Harris/Amazing, 62.3; Nick Gauntlett/Crown Talisman, 65.8
4 Netherlands, 199.1
Tim Lips/Bayro, 58.4; Merel Blom/Rumour Has It N.O.P., 67.5; Andrew Heffernan/Boleybawn Ace, 73.2; (Theo Van de Vendel/Zindane, 76.2)
The French team repeated their feat of 2014 when they also won on home soil, and enjoyed a comfortable victory at the opening leg of FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2015 in Fontainebleau. Left to right: Karim Florent Laghouag (FRA), Helene Vattier (FRA), Gwendolen Fer (FRA) and Arnaud Boiteau (FRA).
A VCP Young Players Course was held in Kinshasa from March 8-12 under the supervision of Belgian FIVB Instructor Mr Michel Vandermeulen. Twenty young players from clubs in the area of Kinshasa attended the seminar, which took place at the Saint-Raphaël stadium.
Mr Vandermeulen covered a variety of subjects during the course, putting a special emphasis on individual technique, team tactics, physical training and attitude. The modules completed reviewed the sport’s fundamentals, addressing any errors in the players’ technique. Modern training techniques were also examined, as well as attacking and defending strategies.
Course participants in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The course aimed to provide participants with the tools needed to progress on a technical and tactical level. This was backed up with the analysis of different types of phases in match play.
The course also aimed to nurture the participants’ passion for the sport by enabling them to practice it at a higher level. Future courses will help to build on what was achieved last week.
Newly Crowned African U-20 champions Nigeria have been drawn in group E of the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015.
The Nigerians who this weekend defeated host Senegal In Dakar to lift the AYC trophy will battle football power house Brazil, Asian reps Korea DPR and European representatives Hungary.
Ghana’s Black Satellites were drawn in Group B alongside Argentina, Panama and Austria; ‘Les Lionceaux’ of Senegal in Group C with Qatar, Colombia and Portugal whilst the Eaglets of Mali will battle it with Mexico, Uruguay and Serbia in Group D.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup will kick-off on the 30th of May through to the 20th of June 2015 in New Zealand
Unflappable Ukraine Otamans clinical in Kiev as they defeat China Dragons 4-1
Ionut-Mirel Jitaru vs Denys Poyatsyka (British Lionhearts vs Ukraine Otamans)
Ukraine Otamans defeated China Dragons 4-1 in Kiev to solidify third place in Group A of the World Series of Boxing (WSB).
Flyweight (52 kg) Azat Usenaliev opened the night for Ukraine by winning his first bout in three matches as he outpointed China’s 1-2 Hu Jianguan.
Jun Shan evened up the scoring after fight number two when he won his second successive WSB match by defeating Ukraine’s Lightweight (60 kg) Oleg Prudkyi who suffered his third loss in a row.
The Otaman assault resumed when Oleg Zubenko won Ukraine’s first match of the season at Welterweight (69 kg) with a unanimous decision verdict over Chinese debutant Haishaer Taximaimaiti.
3-1 Ukrainian Light heavyweight (81 kg) Oleksandr Khyzhniak secured the win for Ukraine, and gave himself an outside chance of Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification through WSB by winning every round against 0-3 Shi Guojun.
Super heavyweight (91+ kg) Ihor Shevadzutskyi achieved his first match of the campaign in the last fight of the evening when he stopped China’s Wang Zhibao in round four of their contest.
Ukraine Otamans travel to Morocco Atlas Lions next week, while China Dragons host Cuba Domadores.
The perfect 10 secured for Astana Arlans Kazakhstan after beating Azerbaijan Baku Fires
Levit vs Jakubowski (Astana Arlans Kazakhstan vs Raffako Hussars Poland
An absorbing World Series of Boxing (WSB) Group B clash in Shymkent was won by Astana Arlans Kazakhstan 4-1 over Azerbaijan Baku Fires.
This was Kazakhstan’s tenth successive victory in Season V, and they are now just three fixtures away from going undefeated throughout the entire Regular Season.
Undefeated Flyweight (52 kg) Olzhas Sattibayev won every round of the opening match of the evening and subjected Azerbaijan’s Murad Rabadanov to his first defeat of the campaign.
The Baku Fires achieved their only success of the fixture at Lightweight (60 kg) when the number one ranked Albert Selimov earned his fifth consecutive win of the season by defeating 0-3 Zakir Safiullin.
Although Selimov won on all three scorecards, the fight was a close one and Safiullin should be proud of a courageous performance against a man who is on the cusp of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games via WSB.
After a victory for Cuba’s top ranked Light heavyweight (81 kg) Julio César la Cruz in Moscow on Friday night, third ranked Hrvoje Sep kept up the pressure on his rival with a resounding victory over Baku Fires representative Mikhail Dauhaliavets.
Kazakhstan’s overall victory was assured at Welterweight (69 kg) when debutant Kanagat Maralov enjoyed a split decision victory against the fourth ranked Parviz Baghirov whose Olympic qualification chances via WSB are perhaps over after this defeat.
Only one Super heavyweight (91+ kg) will qualify for Rio 2016 at the end of the Regular Season, and the top ranked Croatian Filip Hrgovic achieved his fifth win of Season V, and his fourth stoppage as he finished Haji Murtuzaliyev in the first round of their meeting.
The battle for the number one spot between Hrgovic and Britain’s Joseph Joyce is one of WSB’s most intriguing stories, and with just two matches to go for both, the race for Rio is on.
Astana Arlans Kazakhstan visit USA Knockouts next week, while Azerbaijan Baku Fires travel to Rafako Hussars Poland.
Filip Hrgovic vs Haji Murtuzaliyev
Mexico Guerreros make it five wins in a row following success in Algeria
The mercurial Mexico Guerreros accomplished their fifth successive World Series of Boxing (WSB) victory with a 3-2 away win against Algeria Desert Hawks.
This victory keeps the momentum going for the Mexican Franchise who are pushing third placed Ukraine Otamans all the way in Group A, while Algeria will take confidence from almost matching the North American team in Blida.
Mexican Flyweight (52 kg) Orlando Huitzil Ahuatl opened the scoring for his team after winning a tight bout against Algeria’s 0-3 Abdelhakim El Barka.
Lindolfo Delgado began the evening with a 3-0 record and ranked fourth in the Lightweight (60 kg) rankings, but lost his first match of the season to Algeria’s 4-1 Reda Benbaziz who won every round of the fight, and could take Delgado’s place in the WSB rankings after this win.
The Guerreros resumed the lead when Welterweight (69 kg) Marvin Cabrera won his second consecutive match as he outpointed Sofiane Tabi.
Light heavyweight (81 kg) Rogelio Romero earned his second win of Season V, and the overall victory for Mexico after defeating Algerian WSB veteran Hichem Kaalaour in an incredibly close match.
Another narrow bout occurred at Super heavyweight (91+ kg) when Desert Hawk Mohamed Grimes secured a split decision verdict over Irish debutant Dean Gardiner.
Mexico Guerreros host Russian Boxing Team next week, while Algeria Desert Hawks welcome British Lionhearts.
Composed Caciques Venezuela upset USA Knockouts in Caracas
USA Knocouts vs Italia Thunder
Caciques Venezuela achieved their fourth home win in Season V of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) by defeating USA Knockouts 4-1 in Caracas.
This result reignites Venezuela’s chances of qualifying from Group B, while the American team will be disappointed by their second heavy loss in a row.
Venezuela began the night with a 1-0 advantage after USA’s Steven Nelson did not compete in his Light heavyweight (81 kg) match with Albert Ramon Ramirez Duran.
A huge upset occurred in the first match of the evening when Venezuela’s Eduard Johan Bermúdez Salas defeated the second ranked Flyweight (52 kg) Brent Venegas III by split decision.
Venegas III drops to 3-2 this season, and with just two matches to go in the Regular Season, how significant will this result be for his Rio 2016 qualification chances through WSB?
USA’s Maliek Dawnnell Montgomery then achieved his first victory of the campaign by stopping Venezuela’s 1-2 Fradimil Macayo in round four of their contest.
The Venezuelan victory was assured by 3-1 Gabriel Maestre Perez who impressed once again in WSB when he outpointed the fifth ranked Welterweight (69 kg) Brian Ceballo.
There was another surprise result in the last fight of the night as home star Edgar Ramon Munoz Mata earned his first WSB success in five matches by stopping Cam F. Awesome in round two of their bout.
Caciques Venezuela host Puerto Rico Hurricanes next week, while USA Knockouts welcome Astana Arlans Kazakhstan.
Argentina Condors vs Puerto Rico Hurricanes
Argentina Condors defeat Rafako Hussars Poland to secure first win of Season V
After nine winless weeks in Season V of the World Series of Boxing (WSB), Argentina Condors finally achieved their first victory of the campaign by defeating Rafako Hussars Poland 3-2 in San Luis.
Hamza Touba earned his second successive WSB in in the first fight of the evening at Flyweight (52 kg) when he beat Argentina’s Cristian Alan Choque Chambi on points.
Argentina’s Brian Ivan Nunez evened up the scoring, and achieved his first win in five matches this season as he edged a split decision verdict over 1-4 Dawid Michelus.
The momentum swung back to Poland in fight number three, when Ireland’s third ranked Welterweight (69 kg) Steven Donnelly kept his Rio 2016 qualification chances very much alive after winning by split decision against Alberto Ignacio Palmetta.
A Condors comeback resumed at Light heavyweight (81 kg) as home favourite Marcos Escudero outpointed Mateusz Jerzy Tryc to make the score 2-2.
With the weight of a proud boxing nation behind him, Argentine Super heavyweight (91+ kg) Leonardo Taborda kept his cool to earn a first victory of the season for himself, and his team with a wide points success over Roger Hryniuk.
Argentina Condors travel to Italia Thunder next week, while Rafako Hussars Poland host Azerbaijan Baku Fires.
Major contributors to Brazil’s victory in the Men’s & Women’s Team events on 17 March, Hugo CALDERANO (BRA) and GUI Lin (BRA) claimed the Men’s & Women’s Single title to make it to the top of the podium once again at the 2015 ITTF-Latin America Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 21 March 2015.
In the Men’s Singles finals match, Youth Olympic bronze medalist Hugo CALDERANO survived a close call to overcome his colleague Cazuo MATSUMOTO 4-3 (14-16, 11-1, 11-6, 11-4, 10-12, 12-14, 11-6) to defend his title.
On the eventful victory, the 18-year-old shared “I was leading three-one but we both know each other very well, so he knew how to put me in trouble; he became more aggressive from the fifth game onwards, it was vital I kept calm. It’s very important to trust in your own game, that kept me going in the match.”
“Both of us practise in Europe, we have improved a great deal, as have others. The challenge we have against players from Europe and Asia is making us better. I really like to play here in Argentina, it was here I played my first ever international tournament and I always enjoy it here; now it’s time to celebrate and think of China and then Toronto, those are my next goals.”
In the Women’s Singles finals, 21-year-old GUI Lin (BRA) prevailed to take the crown against Mexico’s Yadira SILVA in a tension packed 7-games finals (8-11, 8-11, 15-13, 13-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8).
After her victory, the Brazilian reflected “A key factor was to stay mentally strong as I was trailing several times. I know I can play well, I’ve done it in recent days, I just need to hold my focus through these moments and keep playing according to my tactics. It was the main reason for the win and the title”
“This is a very motivating accomplishment for me!” added Gui Lin. “Being the new Latin American champion is a great joy and it will help me in the big tournaments to come.”
Brazil’s Hugo CALDERANO & GUI Lin claims Men’s & Women’s Singles titles!
As with the case of the Women’s Singles final match, it was success for GUI in the Women’s Doubles category. Together with her experienced compatriot Ligia SILVA, GUI had a close encounter with the Puerto Rican sister, Adriana DIAZ & Melanie DIAZ, to win 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9), and take home the fifth crown for Brazil.
It was Mexico & Chile who prevailed in the Mixed Doubles & Men’s Doubles gold medal matches respectively, preventing an all Brazilian sweep of all seven medals on offer.
The Mexican duo of Marcos MADRID & Yadira SILVA had a taste of sweet revenge at the Mixed Doubles finals against the Puerto Rican pair of Brian AFANADOR & Adriana DIAZ, who defeated them at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games last November. This time in Buenos Aires, the Mexicans emerged victorious to beat the second seeded Puerto Ricans 3-1 (6-11,11-5, 11-7, 11-8).
Victory in the Mixed Doubles, MADRID & his partner Salvador URIBE (MEX) were unsuccessful in the Men’s Doubles final hurdle against Chile’s Manuel MOYA & Alejandro RODRIGUEZ. The Chilean pair upset the Mexicans 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7).
With the conclusion of the 2015 ITTF-Latin America Championships, all attention now turn to the qualification events for the Pan American Games that begins 22 March 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2015 ITTF-Latin America Championships winners:
Men’s Team: Brazil
Women’s Team: Brazil
Mixed Doubles: Marcos MADRID / Yadira SILVA (MEX)
Men’s Doubles: Manuel MOYA / Alejandro RODRIGUEZ (CHI)
Women’s Doubles: GUI Lin / Ligia SILVA (BRA)
Men’s Singles: Hugo CALDERANO (BRA)
Women’s Singles: GUI Lin (BRA)
African Volleyball Confederation “CAVB” President Dr. Amr Elwani opened the Annual International Refereeing Seminar which is held in Cairo and attended by 85 Referees including 18 females.
On his opening speech, Dr. Elwani welcomed the mass presence of attending referees and asked them to make sure that they maximize their benefit from this prestigious Seminar which is held annually by CAVB with an objective to improve the performance of the African International Referees. Elwani expressed his happiness with the increased number of international and candidate referees across the continent;.
“At this seminar all 7 CAVB Zones are presented which reflects that the CAVB is successful in implementing its Strategic and Development Plan across the continent .
CAVB President delivering his welcome speech
Elwani highlighted:” we must make sure that each international referee passes on the knowledge in his national federation and his zone through the participation in the national and zonal competitions,”
“We need to continue increase the total number of referees as part of our strategic planning, and we need to support and promote the female refereeing and their participation in top level events in Africa” Elwani said.
He added:” “I am happy also to see 18 female referees are here at this seminar which represent 50% of African Females referees who are a total of 35, and this is part of our strategies to have more female referees.”
In addition, he also highlighted that African Refereeing has made an extraordinary jump in quality and performance, Africa has increased from only 69 referees in 2005 to 247 in 2015 in both Volleyball and Beach VB, this record has placed Africa as the 2nd best Confederation after CEV ( the European Confederation) in terms of numbers of International Referees.
CAVB President emphasized that the CAVB Board gives a great importance and support to the development of refereeing in Africa as a crucial element in the sport. He added that CAVB Objective to ensure that each NF in Africa will have – by end of 2017 – at least two international referees – one for VB and one for BVB.
18 female referees are attending the CAVB Refereeing seminar
CAVB President asked the referees to present their best performances and abilities during their designations, and that they comply to their ethical conscious and to the code of neutrality.
“One of the main goals of this seminar is to improve the quality of our referees through improving their performance and prepare them for the FIVB competitions. “We also need more involvements for our referees in the National competitions because it is a way to provide them with the required experience.”
He concluded his speech by expressing his belief that African Referees have remarkable potential and that they can reach the highest level in FIVB events. He stressed that he is always available for them for any support or help through all communications channels.
After the opening ceremony the CAVB Refereeing Commission president Mr Hassan Ahmed started the seminar sessions in the presence of the participants.
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