The Nigeria Football Federation has chastised former Nigerian international player Olusegun Odegbami to stop his campaign of calumny against the NFF and prominent Nigerian football figures and face up to the reality that he undid him own campaign for a slot at the FIFA Presidency.
Former Green Eagles’ captain Odegbami failed to secure the statutory five nominations needed to put him on the ballot for next year’s FIFA Presidential election, and has been relentless in throwing salvos against the NFF and prominent figures like Dr. Amos Adamu and Chief Orji Uzor Kalu.
“We are thoroughly disappointed at the conduct of Chief Odegbami since his failed bid,” Hon. Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande, Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, stated. “He was his own big problem, with the letter he wrote castigating the leadership of FIFA and CAF, which he brazenly copied to these eminent figures.
“We consider Chief Odegbami an elder statesman in Nigeria football, but he has been throwing a lot of tantrums lately. He has been accusing very prominent and illustrious persons of so many things, and imagining himself to be a saint.”
Yahaya-Kwande, also a ranking member of the House of Representatives, said the onus was on Odegbami to secure his five nominations outside NFF’s endorsement.
“The NFF is aware that Odegbami reached out to the Football Associations of Ghana, Togo, Benin Republic and Zambia. How is his failure the fault of the NFF? They told him to his face that they were opposed to him because of his statements against the President of CAF, who is now Acting FIFA President.
“He said the NFF wasted time in endorsing him. As far back as September 8, we set out conditions for himself and Chief Orji Kalu to meet before we could endorse either of them. We always emphasized extensive consultations by the aspirants. It is outrightly mischievous for him to give the impression that the NFF was his problem. The NFF President was in Cairo, Egypt to campaign for him for the five nominations, but where was Odegbami himself on the day that mattered?
“Let it be said that Nigeria was the only country where more than one person showed interest in the race. Odegbami was a great football player and brought honour to Nigeria, but Chief Kalu also brought honour to Nigeria through extensive support for Enyimba to win top laurels. It is also true that Kalu indicated his interest before Odegbami did. Yet, we eventually endorsed Odegbami.”
Yahaya-Kwande emphasized that none of the candidates who eventually got on the ballot relied solely on their National Association to get the five nominations for them.
“Odegbami has this strange idea that everyone else is tainted and he is not! He worked against himself. It is not NFF’s problem; it is his problem, entirely.”
The League Management Company (LMC) has no doubt done superbly well in the almost-over 2015 League season, coupled with songs of praise from all and sundry, including me, for a well organized and a more focused league. Although, we have not heard much about new sponsors coming into the league, but the LMC have been able to create awareness by drawing more spectators to the stadium.
Having said that, home wins have been hard to come by because of strong competition in the league. Many clubs like Kano Pillars renowned for their over a decade unbeaten home run were beaten at home by Nasarawa united which was a great sign of the competitiveness of the league.
What about the major actors in the league? I am referring to the footballers who laboured day and night to ensure they feature for their teams. These guys always work and train hard, travelling for long hours to and fro, twice a week to play football for their respective teams. Just because they signed an agreement which they cannot terminate, hence they don’t have any other choice, just because they love to play football, with some having to fend for their immediate and extended families. Many cannot move an inch for fear of blackmail or joblessness.
SOGBESO SEUN OF NASARAWA AND BABALE IBRAHIM OF KWARA UTD photo credit LMC Media
The season that is about to come to an end revealed how players cried in silence, and how some confided in trusted journalists to help them spread the word and many people do not care about the health and wellness of these actors who are just expected to entertain and score goals. Even the fans look out for the players only on the field of play and are not bothered if they are paid or not. Non payment of salaries is detrimental for obvious reasons, for example personal maintenance, and offsetting of individual commitments. It also has a huge psychological effect on the players performances, because which employee will be happy to see his employers living large when he`s being owed.
Why do we ignore the players, the star attractions, the bread winners of the league, they are humans afterall. As we know that a happy worker is a productive worker. Teams like Taraba FC, Enyimba Intl FC, Dolphins FC, Warri Wolves amongst many others are owing players their due wages by the way,however majority of the players are quiet about it for fear of victimization.
Welfare of footballers is just as pivotal as the lack of salary payments. It has a lot to do with the emotional and psychological state of players. If I may further ask, how many of these teams has a psychologist? when last did you hold in-house training for your players on how to manage their emotional and other external challenges, and how to make sure it did not affect their on-field performances, or the injured players on how to ensure the injury and lack of activity is not sending them into depression. With depression, they still play their hearts out, without food and compassion. Moreso, how to behave in public, harness positive energy and concentration. How do you teach and work on a particular skill of the athletes and their attitudes.
Who cares? as expected there is supposed to be a football welfare association in this nation but none of such exist.
The LMC at a time said that for any team to feature in the league, they must meet the minimum requirement of N150,000 and also they will supervise the payment. Some have been fined and some threatened with fines and points deduction. How many can the LMC on its own do if the rich state owned clubs still owe players, how do they expect them to get paid for their hard-earned entertainment, breaking arms and limbs in the process. They are human and not puppets.
This league season is almost over and I hope the LMC and clubs do the needful with a superior intervention from the NFF to ensure they are paid their dues and not run on the pitch with empty stomach, including in many instances, psychological traumas.
Players are human beings for Gods sake and not puppets.
Australia’s Mat Belcher and Will Ryan led the gold rush as the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final reached its conclusion in Abu Dhabi today.
The defending champions underlined their dominance by winning the Medal Race to score a comprehensive second successive Men’s 470 World Cup triumph at the Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club.
On this occasion, Belcher and Ryan got home by just a second from the young Spanish pairing of Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp to finish 11 points ahead of Sweden’s Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström who finished second on the last day of the regatta, sponsored by ADS Securities and Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority
The result underlines the Aussies’ position as firm favourites to strike gold at next year’s Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro and adds to Belcher’s haul of six world titles, three won in tandem with Ryan.
Swede-Josefin-Olsson
After racing Belcher commented, “It’s been a long week with difficult conditions to sail in, but it’s been great to race in the morning. We have had some tough competition and there hasn’t been much rest since the worlds. We knew everyone was in top form and highly motivated so we are happy to get the win.”
It also added to the reputation of their Ukrainian-born coach, Victor Kovalenko, known as “The Medal Maker,” who has guided the winners of nine Olympic medals – six golds – and 18 world championships. Americans Stuart McNay and David Hughes, 6th on the day, took the 470 bronze.
Third position in the Women’s 470 medal race was enough to leave Britain’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark celebrating gold from last year’s World Cup winners in Abu Dhabi, Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar.
The Austrians were second on the day in a race won by Akiyo Yamaguchi and Eri Hatayama, although it was another Japanese combination, that of Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka, who collected bronze medals.
2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final, Abu Dhabi, Credit Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/ Isaf
There was consolation for Austria in the 49er as Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch won the Medal Race following back-to-back race victories the previous day to land the gold with six points to spare over Stefano Cherin and Andrea Tesei.
“It feels amazing to win,” Delle Karth exclaimed. “It has been really tricky all week with the offshore morning breeze, which made the racing super close. We have had really good fun all week. There was a bit of pressure in the medal race and it was open for a number of people to win so it was great to go out and execute under pressure. It was a valuable experience.”
Finishing second on the day, just ahead of the Italian silver medallists, were Frenchmen Gabriel Skoczek and Yann Rocherieux who won bronze.
Croatia’s Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic is the new World Cup champion in the Finn, clinching gold with a 4th place in the Medal Race. Turkey’s Alican Kaynar finished third to claim silver, while victory on the day saw Spain’s Pablo Guitian Sarria edge ahead of Britain’s Edward Wright to take bronze.
With an offshore breeze of 8-13 knots switching to a sea breeze later on, Australian Tom Burton was always in control in the Laser, taking third place in the Medal Race to comfortably secure gold ahead of Cypriot winner on the day, Pavlos Kontides.
2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final, Abu Dhabi, Credit Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/ Isaf
A closing sixth place finish was enough to see another Australian, Matthew Wearn, squeeze past five-time Olympic medalist Robert Scheidt to take the bronze after the Brazilian closed with a disappointing ninth.
The battle for gold in the Laser Radial was one of the most intriguing of the World Cup final, and ultimately it went to Sweden’s Josefin Olsson who had trailed Holland’s Marit Bouwmeester by a single point overnight. “This is my first World Cup win so it feels great,” said Olsson, “It’s always good to win the final. It means a lot to be up there and fight it out with the top girls and get a podium position in the end.”
While Olsson finished fourth on the day, Bouwmeester slipped to eighth in the Medal Race. Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom, first to finish, subsequently collected a penalty but was still able to beat Belgium’s defending champion Evi Van Acker to the bronze medal.
The Men’s RS:X was another which brought a last-day turnaround, with Spain’s Ivan Pastor Lafuente taking the RS:X medal race victory to snatch gold from Brazil’s overnight leader, Ricardo Santos, who slumped to seventh on the day for silver. Great Britain’s Tom Squires won the bronze medal.
Arguably the most impressive performer of the regatta was Britain’s Bryony Shaw who successfully defended her World Cup crown in the RS:X women’s class, winning the medal race for her seventh victory out of 10. Second place on the day gave Italy’s Flavia Tartaglini the silver medal while Brazilian Patricia Freitas finished third to secure the bronze.
2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final, Abu Dhabi, Credit Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/ Isaf
Britain’s Oliver Bridge won the decisive medal race to retain his open kiteboarding title and round off the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final at Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club.
Spain’s Florian Trittel collected the silver medal while the bronze went to fellow-countryman Alejandro Climent Hernandez.
Attention now turns to the start of the 2016 ISAF Sailing World Cup series that commences in Melbourne, Australia in the middle of December later this year.
For the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), the 2015 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Glasgow have set a new benchmark for organisers of future Artistic Gymnastics competitions.
When the FIG allocated the major World Championships of the Olympic cycle to British Gymnastics and the city of Glasgow four years ago, it knew its championships were in good hands. But it could not have imagined how far the organising committee would go in its innovation and originality in presenting the event and its stars, the gymnasts.
“These World Championships have been wonderful in every aspect,” enthused Professor Bruno Grandi, President of the FIG, during a press conference before the final day of competition Sunday. “I would like to thank the city, because Gymnastics, this magnificent sport, needs to try to continue to organise competitions in this manner.”
The Glasgow World Championships featured several innovative features designed to engage the crowd while emphasizing the gymnasts’ craft. The use of a giant 20 x 6 meter screen and stage to present gymnasts as they entered the arena before a backdrop of smoke and flames, as well as the placement of the judges above and away from the field of play were among the innovations that contributed to the beauty of the spectacle.
“By presenting them this way, the gymnasts became actors in a grand production,” Grandi said. “It was even better than the Olympic Games, and for this we owe a lot to the Glasgow 2015 Organising Committee. With these World Championships, we have become even more professional in our way of doing things.”
“As an Olympic qualifying event, we wanted this World Championships to be run to the highest of standards so the athletes could feel that they were taking center stage while achieving their goals,” said British Gymnastics CEO Jane Allen. The success of the World Championships owed much to the vision of Colin Hartley, Championships Director of the Glasgow 2015 Worlds, as well as Competition Director Matthew Greenwood.
On a sporting level, the World Championships will be remembered for numerous reasons: In addition to being the first qualifying event for the 2016 Rio Games (the top eight men’s and women’s teams as well as event finalist medallists whose teams do not qualify for the Olympics all to the Games) the Glasgow Worlds have been remarkable for the number of history-making performances.
The field of play at the SSE Hydro
In Glasgow, Japan’s Kohei Uchimura and American Simone Biles won their sixth and third consecutive World All-around titles, respectively, establishing new records for winning streaks in both Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics. In becoming the first Cuban gymnast to win a medal in the individual All-around competition, Manrique Larduet (silver) carved out his own slice of history, while Max Whitlock (gold on Pommel Horse) also wrote a new chapter for Great Britain as its first-ever World champion in Men’s Gymnastics.
Additionally, the women’s Uneven Bars final, which produced gold medallists Fan Yilin (CHN), Daria Spiridonova (RUS), Viktoria Komova (RUS) and Madison Kocian (RUS), will rest in the annals of gymnastics as one of the most unanticipated results ever produced in world competition.
LIU Shiwen has became the equal most successful player in ITTF Women’s World Cup history by winning her fourth title in as many attempts at the 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup, which concluded today 1 November in Sendai, Japan.
The 24 year old added the 2015 title to those that she claimed in 2009, 2012 and 2013, to be equal with the legendary ZHANG Yining with four ITTF World Cup crowns.
The world number two reached this historic feat by defeating the great Japanese hope Kasumi ISHIKAWA 14-12,11-2,11-9,11-2 in the final to silence the capacity crowd at the Xebio Arena.
After lifting the famous cup, Liu stated: “At the vital times, I really had to make sure that I was positive; certainly it is a greater honour to be named alongside ZHANG Yining winning four ITTF Women’s World Cup titles. This victory will hopefully boost my chances of being selected in the Chinese Olympic team for Rio 2016.”
ISHIKAWA was happy with her silver medal, but was disappointed she could not win a dream gold in front of her home crowd: “I led 10-9 in the first game. I had a chance, I missed the chance but Liu Shiwen is a superb player, overall I have to be pleased with my efforts in this tournament.”
The third place play off was between two women that differed in age by 21 years, but both played the tournaments of their lives here in Sendai.
21 year Petrissa SOLJA (GER), who beat world number six FENG Tianwei (SIN) and world number four Ai FUKUHARA (JPN) before her remarkable run, was finally stopped by the eventual winner, LIU Shiwen in the semi final.
42 year old LI Jiao (NED) proved that she was not slowing down with age, as she caused the biggest upset of 2015 by beating the number two seed and Asian champion ZHU Yuling (CHN) in the quarter finals before coming up short against ISHIKAWA in the final four showdown.
Liu Shiwen claims 4th gold at 2015 ITTF Women’s World Cup to be named alongside legends
SOLJA proved to be too strong in the bronze medal decider, winning 7-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 against the tiring LI to become the first ever German to win an ITTF Women’s World Cup bronze medal.
The world’s best table tennis players now head to GAC Group 2015 World Tour Swedish Open which begins on 11 December. This is the final chance for players to collect priceless Race to Lisbon points to qualify for the prestigious GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals to be held in Lisbon, Portugal on 10-13 December 2015.
Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping North American League: Chile’s Samuel Parot and Atlantis continue hot streak to win at Calgary…
Chile’s Samuel Parot continued his recent winning streak by adding the $132,200 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping qualifier at the CSI3* Royal West in Calgary to his growing list of grand prix victories. Already with one North American League win under his belt at the Sacramento International Horse Show in September, Parot partnered again with Atlantis (Andiamo x Royal Bravour L) to deliver the fastest clear of 39.23 seconds in a three-man jump off.
Following their win in Sacramento, the successful pair also notched up a CSI4* win at the Del Mar International Horse Show before Parot and his horses made their way to Calgary. During the ten days of the Royal West, Parot on Atlantis and his two other mounts, Couscous Van Orti (Nabab de Reve x Cash) and Tailormade Anna Chacca (Chacco Blue x Andiamo), made a clean sweep of the top three places in an early speed class. Parot then won three more speed classes ahead of his win in the FEI World Cup™ qualifier.
“My horse is very fast, very careful, and I saw from the first rider in the jump off that it would be very easy for my horse to make the better time,” Parot said. “The course was very technical and for this, there were only three clears.”
“In the jump off, Atlantis is a little excited,” he added. “In the first round, he’s quiet and jumps so good. He’s very fast, and he likes the jump off.”
“It’s very important [that I do well in the North American League],” said Parot. “I jump for this league and not for the South American League and I think with this win, I have a very good position [to qualify for the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final]. I think with the two wins that I have a very good chance.”
Parot and his horses will travel from Calgary to their home base in Wellington, Florida, where the horses will have time off and a few more shows before Parot competes in the last two East Coast qualifiers in Wellington and Ocala in February.
New rides
The technical and challenging course designed by Werner Deeg (GER) kept nineteen riders from faultless first rounds. But in addition to Parot, seasoned Canadian competitors, Yann Candele and Jill Henselwood, jumped two double-clear rounds to finish second and third, respectively, both aboard unfamiliar horses.
Candele’s runner-up result came aboard Granit S (Faust Z x Graf Grannus), a 10-year-old gelding on loan from John Anderson, the Royal West Chairman, and one that Candele had only ridden since Monday.
“John [Anderson] tried to bring me here for quite a while, but with my schedule it was difficult and at the end, I had an opening,” Candele said. “So I took on the offer and came at the beginning of the week and had a little ride with the horse and for whatever reason, we matched because the horse is great and really trying and that’s why we’ve had a great week.”
“You just go day by day,” he continued. “I came on Monday night, very late. I rode the horse a little bit Monday on the flat, jumped him, and it was good chemistry. It was already clear on the first day, and after you go through the process, repeat the same thing: flat him every day, and he jumped clear actually through the whole week. It’s just a sign of a fantastic horse who’s trying his heart out and accepted my riding so that’s all it is. At the end of the day, it’s the quality of the horse that makes what happened to me this week.”
Henselwood also rode a fairly new mount, Farfelu du Printemps (Action Breaker x Darco), in the Longines FEI World Cup™ qualifier after she decided that her initial choice, Quidam Blue (Quidam’s Rubin x Come On), wasn’t fully up to the task this week.
“Farfelu is a new acquisition for a 19-year-old Canadian that I train,” Henselwood said. “She’s in engineering at Queen’s [University] so she’s tucked in with a full course load, and I have Farfelu so that was good planning. I didn’t really know what to expect. He’s got some good results from his Swiss rider, up to 1.55 [meters] and I’ve ridden him now for a few weeks. I kept inching up the bar, and my responsibility is to make sure that I develop him more as a girl’s ride and to protect him. So to go to the World Cup, normally I would have done the stallion, but he was a little bit off form this week so I thought, ‘Yeah, Farfelu should try.’ And then actually, ‘I think Farfeleu’s going to win, a lot.’”
Chile’s Samuel Parot and Atlantis have won the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping qualifier in Calgary (CAN), and are now setting their sights on the last two East Coast qualifiers in Wellington and Ocala. (FEI/Aimee Makris)
Clear matters
As the rails dropped through the night’s rounds, riders quickly realized the challenging course demanded precise timing and decisions at every step.
“I think the course was very technical tonight,” Henselwood said. “The jumps came up very fast. Obviously there were only three clean, but there were quite a few with four faults.”
“Werner is a fantastic course designer and we’ve used him for numerous events at our place,” said Anderson, also a competitor and 5th place finisher in the evening’s class. “And of course, he was the course designer last year at Royal West. He knows the ring and he pays attention to all the horses that compete over the ten days. He gradually builds the horses to peak and then at the final event today, he sets the bar high and challenges us all. The jumps came up very quickly, you had to be on your game all the time, you didn’t have a lot of room to rest in this particular round and it showed. The cream rose to the top.”
With a triple combination, a double combination, and tight turns in the indoor space, rounds saw a variety of rails drop. But in particular, fence 12, off a short turn, caused some heartbreaking four faults, just one jump away from the course’s end.
“Who cares about three cleans,” Werner said, in response to how he reacted as the designer to the low number in the jump off. “It was, for me, a fantastic final. You can’t always talk about how many clear rounds [in relation to a good course].”
Jordi Xammar, one of the rising stars of world sailing, has set his own personal speed record on the water in Abu Dhabi, but the young Spaniard was happy to slow down dramatically on the World Cup stage today.
Xammar was thrilled to accept an invitation from Team Abu Dhabi to drive their mighty XCAT (Extreme Catamaran) on the sidelines of the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.
Jumping into the cockpit alongside throttleman Rashed Al Tayer, he was soon up to 110kmh off Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club in the boat which could bring the 2015 XCAT World Series title to the UAE capital next month.
It was only half way to the top speed achieved by Al Tayer and his regular partner, Saleh Al Mansoori, in best race conditions, but Xammar finished the run to say, “It was incredible – one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.
“It was amazing. Everything goes by so fast. It’s was certainly a lot faster than the speed we are used to in our boats, and I want to thank the Team Abu Dhabi guys for the experience.”
Al Tayer said, “Jordi drove really well. He’s a fast learner, probably because of his sailing background. Maybe he’ll change his sport to XCAT racing one day.”
The first priority for Xammar, however, was to reach the 470 class medal race in the climax to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final tomorrow.
With the top ten finishers qualifying, Xammar and Spanish team-mate Joan Herp were placed 7th, and looking for a repeat of the form which gave them victory in the medal race at the recent 470 World Championships.
Currently lying second in the 2015 XCAT World Series with two rounds remaining, Al Tayer and Al Mansoori hope to land the title on home waters when the championship concludes at Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club from 25-27 November.
Latin America has made history in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh, after claiming gold in girl’s teams, girl’s singles, and mixed doubles event at the 2015 ITTF World Cadet Challenge that concluded today, 31 October 2015.
The World Cadet Challenge is the international tournament for world’s best under-15 players to fight for the honour of their continents, and has long been a budding ground for young talents around the world. Many World Champions, such as reigning Olympic Champion ZHANG Jike, and World number one MA Long and DING Ning, all started their debut on the international arena at the World Cadet Challenge.
The Latin American girl’s team, led by top-seeded Adriana DIAZ, claimed their first ever World Cadet Challenge medal after winning 3-1 against a spirited European girl’s team to give them a perfect start to their tournament here in Egypt.
In the Girl’s Singles gold medal match, Bruna TAKAHASHI avenged for her teammate DIAZ’s semifinals loss to Andreea DRAGOMAN, beating DRAGOMAN 4-3 (11-8, 3-11. 12-10, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9) in a full-distanced 7-game duel to take home the prestigious title for her and her team.
“I feel so happy with the victory and taking the first singles medal for Latin America. I fought so much for this and I’m glad it all paid off!” shared the Brazilian after her victory. “The match was so hard, and I was really nervous in the decider, but I had to take control, and my coach also told me to have faith, and that I could do well.”
“The Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be happening next year in my country, and we are all very excited about it. Like for the other Brazilian players, I’m also going to practise more and of course fight for the chance to participate for the Olympic Games at home.”
Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi competes gold hunt for Latin America
The Boy’s Singles Final was an equally exciting matchup between Asia’s YANG Shuo and Europe’s Truls MOREGARD, with both players pushing each other to their limits in each game. YANG eventually prevailed 4-3 (12-14, 12-10, 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 13-11, 11-6) to bring home his hard earned title.
Despite losing in the semifinals of the girl’s singles, DIAZ made up for her loss by winning the mixed doubles events with MOREGARD. For her outstanding performance throughout the entire tournament, she was also awarded the title of the “Most Valuable Girl”, a perfect gift for her birthday today.
Unprecedented: A 4-way tie for gold on Uneven Bars
It was an Uneven Bars final worth its weight in gold: For the first time in the history of the sport, four gymnasts — China’s Fan Yilin, Russians Viktoria Komova and Daria Spiridonova and American Madison Kocian — tied for the World title. Each of the four scored 15.366, setting the SSE Hydro crowd buzzing and tripling the duration of the awards ceremony.
Fan, Komova, Spiridonova and Kocian will forever be linked in the annals of Women’s Gymnastics, which has never seen anything like this. Ties for gold at Worlds have been more frequent in Men’s Gymnastics, including three-way splits on Pommel Horse in 1903 and 1992, and on High Bar in 1922. Five gymnasts tied for silver on Parallel Bars in 1922.
The first king of Britain
Since Beth Tweddle became the British women’s first World champion in 2006, the British men have been waiting for the gymnast who would win them a world crown as well. It came to an end Saturday as Max Whitlock spun his way to the Pommel Horse title, besting teammate Louis Smith by a mere tenth of the point. The two 2012 Olympic Pommel Horse medallists thus combined to produce their country’s best ever result in Gymnastics: British gymnasts on the first and second steps of the podium.
If anything helped Whitlock and Smith on Pommel Horse, it was the absence of reigning World and Olympic champion Krisztian Berki of Hungary, who did not qualify for the medal round. With a gold, three silvers and a bronze already in their pockets, Glasgow 2015 has is already Great Britain’s most successful World Championships. It’s not over yet, either: The British will have three more chances to medal tomorrow on the second day of finals.
Russia returns to the top
After failing to earn medals in team finals and the All-around competition, 2012 Olympic Vault bronze medallist Maria Paseka revived the Russian women with gold on Vault, her country’s first on the event since 2002. Paseka also deprived 2008 Olympic Vault champion Hong Un Jong of a second consecutive World title: the two competed the same vaults, though Paseka’s superior execution made the difference. Minutes later, during the incredible Uneven Bars final, Komova and Spiridonova earned Russia another two golds.
The rebound of Mr. Twist
Even in the absence of Kohei Uchimura, the Japanese hit parade continued Saturday, with twisting sensation Kenzo Shirai regaining the World Floor title he won in 2013. As Shirai slayed the audience and judges by nailing his quadruple twist final pass to win his second gold of this championships, Great Britain’s Max Whitlock was no less happy in silver, while Spain’s Rayderley Zapata won bronze.
In the name of the father
Greece’s Eleftherios Petrounias came to the World Championships with one mission: win a medal on Rings to honor his father, who recently passed away. By relegating China’s You Hao and 2014 World champion Liu Yang silver and bronze, respectively, Petrounias delivered a fitting memorial.
Fan Yilin (CHN), Viktoria Komova (RUS), Daria Spiridonova (RUS) and Madison Kocian (USA) share gold
One more for Biles
Already golden in the team and All-around finals, American Simone Biles gave herself one more reason to smile, adding the bronze on Vault to her growing medal collection. The medal is Biles’s 12th at a World Championships, breaking the American record she set earlier this week.
Olympic qualifiers
Medallists from individual apparatus event finals in Glasgow advance directly to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, provided their teams do not qualify. Ergo, Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE, gold on Still Rings), Hong Un Jong (PRK, silver on Women’s Vault) and Harutyun Merdinyan (ARM, bronze on Pommel Horse), all gymnasts whose teams did not compete at this World Championships, have qualified as individuals to next summer’s Olympics.
Rayderley Zapata (ESP, bronze on Men’s Floor) can also sleep easily, knowing that his place at the Games is secure as well, even if the Spanish men don’t qualify a team to Rio at April’s Olympic Test Event
Nigerian International Ugonna Uzochukwu was the hero on Friday when his dying minute goal secured three points for his team Chippa United in the Absa Premiership Game against Black Aces at the Philippi Stadium.
Chippa had gone down by one goal in the first half, but manage to draw level when Lerato Chabangu scored in the second half.
Uzochukwu who was unfortunate not to have scored earlier in the first half eventually put his name on the goal scorer’s sheet when he netted the winner in the 83rd minute to secure three points for his team.
United are currently placed ninth 8th position on the PSL Log.
The Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as Appointed Mr Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye as the Senior Special Assistant On Sports to the Governor Of Lagos state.
Adeboye who until recently was the Special Assistant to the former Governor of the state on football matters as been appointed by Governor Ambode as part of the new plans by the governor to reposition the state when it comes to sports.
Speaking with the media over the weekend the SSA expressed his gratitude to the governor and promised to repay the trust placed in him by working extra hard to make sure makes his impact felt across the entire length and breath of the state.
Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye,
“Sports is a very important tool that can be used to empower and engage the youth of Lagos state and we will make sure we take Lagos to the next level considering the fact that the previous administration had achieved so much, but now intend to consolidate and then ensure that the “centre of excellence” regains her pride of place as the numero uno in Nigeria” he said.
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