Tennis star,Maria Sharapova will miss the Olympic games which begins in Rio next month after the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS),decided that a decision regarding her appeal on a two year doping ban be postponed till September. Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, was suspended from tennis for two years by the International Tennis […]
The most prestigious Grand Slam tourney is a few hours away and Newfanzone.com takes a look at the chances of the top athletes as they battle for the top prize at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Men’s Preview Top seed and defending champion,Novak Djokovic who recently completed a career Slam(after winning RG) should be […]
With the end of the 2015/2016 season, Newfanzone.com takes a look at the top 10 ten African footballers who stood out in the English Premier League. 10. Lamine Kone (Sunderland/ Ivory Coast) – The Ivorian centre back who signed from Lorient in January proved to be a shining light for the black cats in their […]
via Top 10 African Players Of The 2015/2016 EPL Season — newfanzoneblog
The French Open(2nd Grand Slam Of the year) is just few hours away and Newfanzone.com takes a look how it will all go down in Roland Garros 2016. Men’s Draw Novak Djokovic is always the favorite going to any Grand Slam competition in recent years,and no doubt the Serb will be desperate to finally break […]
With the end of the 2015/2016 season, Newfanzone.com takes a look at the top 10 ten African footballers who stood out in the English Premier League. 10. Lamine Kone (Sunderland/ Ivory Coast) – The Ivorian centre back who signed from Lorient in January proved to be a shining light for the black cats in their […]
via Top 10 African Players In The 2015/2016 EPL Season — newfanzoneblog
Pep Guardiola’s side has been knocked out of the Semi-finals of the Champions league for the third straight year and the question is, Has he been a success at the Bavarian club? The Ex Barcelona manager took over Bayern Munich after the aftermath of their treble win under Jupp Heynckes and they were expected to […]
Arsenal progressed to the Quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup with a brace each from forwards Olivier Giroud and
Theo Walcott.
Hull City who played a goalless draw at the Emirates to earn a replay, went behind after Giroud pounced on a pass from Meyler to goalkeeper Jakupovic as the frenchman made no mistake from close range.
Giroud who became a father on Monday, grabbed his second in the 71st minute, while Walcott double came in the final 13 minutes of the encounter.
The victory though was marred by injuries to Arsenal’s Captain Per Mertesacker, Centre back partner Gabriel and Midfielder Aaron Ramsey who hobbled off with a thigh injury as the Gunners were force to play Monreal and Chambers as centre backs to complete the game.
The Gunners injury list keep increasing as Cech, Koscielny, Chamberlain, Cazorla, Wilshere and Rosicky are still out injured which could affect their title chase and the defence of their FA cup title.
Hull City XI: Jakupovic, Bruce, Maguire, Davies, Odubajo, Elmohamady, Meyler, Huddlestone, Diame, Powell, Diomande.
Arsenal XI : Ospina,Chambers, Gabriel, Mertesacker, Gibbs,Flamini, Elneny; Campbell, Iwobi, Walcott,Giroud.
It was a tensed atmosphere at the Agege stadium, as NPFL newboys MFM hosted Sunshine Stars of Akure with both teams needing all three points after losing their last games.
MFM looked like the more dangerous side in the opening minutes of the game and it was no surprise they got the first goal through former Sunshine stars player Musa Newman in the 25th minute.
Sunshine responded well as Samad Quadri converted Dimgba’s cross to level the score before the half-time break.
The second half started with the home side dictating the pace of play with their intricate passing as they looked to break the Owena waves defence.
Dele Olorundare came in for Okiki Afolabi in the second half as the Samuel Unuanel side tried to get the three maximum points from the game. There were chances for both team to score the second goal but the goalkeepers were at the top of their game.
The home side passing game soon paid off late into the game as Stephen Odey scored the second goal for MFM in what proved to be the winning goal in the encounter. Sunshine tried to see if they could salvage anything from the game but the goal wasn’t forthcoming and frustration soon set in as their captain Abe Sunday was sent off for a dangerous tackle.
MFM assistant coach Ali Suleiman Obinna said after the game that it was one of their best performances so far in the league, he also added that before the game he told his boys that it was “3 maximum points or nothing”.
On the other hand Sunshine Stars Head coach Samuel Unuanel was not happy as he described the defeat as a “painful” one, Unuanel said the plan was to come pick up the three points available but he would have settled for settled for a draw but for the late winner by MFM”s Odey. The Akure side are yet to win a game this season in the NPFL.
This victory would surely give MFM the neededboost after their Match day 3 loss to Shooting stars in Ibadan over the weekend, and ahead of the Lagos derby away to fellow newcomers Ikorodu United on Matchday 5 of the Premier league season.
MFM XI: Folarin, Stanley, Oriyomi, Austin, Monsuru, Ifeanyi, Brossa, Emmanuel, Sikiru, Nnamdi, Newman.
Sunshine XI: Ariyo, Abe, Mine, Odunlami, Oladuntoye, Aremu, Ojo, Dimgba, Olulayo, Okiki, Quadri.
Other Matchday 4 Results:
Warri Wolves 0-0 Enugu Rangers
Giwa FC 2-1 Rivers United
Ifeanyi Ubah 3-1 Shooting Stars
Lobi Stars 3-1 El-Kanemi Warriors
Akwa United 3-1 Heartland
Abia Warriors 0-0 Kano Pillars
Wikki Tourists 3-0 Plateau United
Niger Tornadoes 2-0 Nassarawa United
Ademola Adejuwon
Following what Manchester City’s boss Manuel Pellegrini said in his pre-match conference,it was no surprise to most football lovers on Sunday when Manchester City played Chelsea with 5 youth players in the 5th round of the FA cup tie.
The young players performed well, especially in the first half,where they were able to hold a revived Chelsea side under Guus Hiddink to a one all draw in the first 45 mins.
Notably among the debutants was 18 year old Tosin Adarabioyo who was handed the task of marking Diego Costa, the Nigerian born defender did his job much better than the more experienced Martin Demechelis.
No wonder Tosin was voted Manchester City Man Of The Match after the the game. The young defender also won the award for (Young) “Player Of Season 2014/2015 season”
Adarabioyo, who is a graduate of the Manchester City Academy and Captain of the U-18 team of the Citizens, has already represented the England U-19 team in a friendly match in which they defeated Japan 5-1.
The 6ft 5inches centre back, who also loves to score goals is still eligible to play for Nigeria.
Tosin is a strong and confident centre-back and he was part of a stingy back line of Manchester City in the UEFA youth league that saw them concede just four goals, thereby creating an 100% record in the group stage of the competition.
The former Hough End Griffins Junior FC star,is the younger brother of Fisayo Mubarak Adarabioyo who plays as a Striker for Flyde FC in England.
Fisayo Adarabioyo is reported to have rejected an invitation from coach Samson Siasia to join the U-23 team of Nigeria.
It’s a great one seeing Nigerian born players in action for big club sides in Europe and hopefully the likes of Tosin Adarabioyo Kelechi Iheanacho, Chidiebere Nwakali & Tom Dele Bashiru can make a good career for themselves with the Citizens which will also help the national team.
Ademola Adejuwon
Segun Moses Toriola who is a native of Ilorin, Kwara state has put Nigeria’s name in the history books as far as table tennis in concerned.
The 42 year old, who started playing tennis at a tender age of 5, participated in his maiden international competition at the World Tennis Championship in Spain in 1991 before he qualified for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 at the age of 17 in which he lost at the fist stage.
Since his first Olympics,he has gone on to dominate Africa table tennis. He was the reigning Men singles champion for 16 years with 4 African Table Tennis single titles (1998,2002,2004 & 2006), 4 All African Games singles medal ( 1995,1999,2003,2007), 4 Doubles Gold medal ( 1995,1999,2003,2007), 1 Mixed Doubles Gold (199), 3 Team Gold Medals (1995,1999,2003), 2 Doubles championships (1992,1994) Commonwealth Single Championship (2002) amongst many other titles.
Toriola who is renowned for his unusual style of forehand play, makes him an awkward opponent for many. Despite lacking good footwork he has an excellent topspin,which has allowed him to pull off many upsets with top world players .Notably, was what he did at the summer Olympics in 2008 when he got to the Round of 16 defeating former world No.1 Jean-Michel Saive and Zuang David that made him become the FIRST EVER AFRICAN TO REACH AN OLYMPIC TABLE TENNIS QUARTERFINAL.
The vastly experienced Nigerian, became the FIRST AFRICAN TO QUALIFY FOR SEVEN OLYMPIC GAMES when he defeated Togolese Mawussi Abetoglo in four straight sets at the Olympics qualifiers in Khartoum, Sudan. He now joins table tennis legends Jena Michel Saive (Belgium), Zoran Primorac (Croatia), Jorgen Persson (Sweden) as players that have participated in Seven Olympics.
In his Tennis career,Toriola has shown that he his patriotic, a selfless athlete who was ready to serve his fatherland. He needs to be celebrated for what he has done for Nigeria and he would be missed when he finally retires from Tennis.
Nigerian Table Tennis seem to be in safe hands as players like Aruna Quadri (who recently qualified to represent Africa at the ITTF world cup), Offiong Edem and Junior athlete like Ayobami Animashaun are making a name for themselves both on the continent and at international competitions.
Ademola Adejuwon
World No.1 Serena Williams has pulled out of the Qatar Total Open due to a flu.
Serena said this in a news released by the organisers of the competition “l unfortunately have to withdraw from the Qatar Total Open as I have come down with the flu and do not feel 100 percent.
I need to take this time to recover but I do look forward to returning to Doha and seeing my fans soon.”
The 21-time Grand Slam Champion will not be the only high profile name missing the tournament, as Russian Maria Sharapova has also pulled out of the competition due to an arm injury.
Tournament director Saad Al Mohannadi said the competition “will miss the presence of the World No. 1 Serena Williams” but the tournament would still be “keenly contested”.
Big names like Simona Halep, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska are all expected to participate in the tournament that begins February 21st.
Ademola Adejuwon
7 time Grand Slam Champion Venus Williams, has been fined after failing to show up to a press conference following her defeat to British No.1 Johanna Konta.
Venus who surprisingly lost out to Konta in the first round of this year Australian Open would pay a fee of $5,000 which is below her first round appearance fee £18,800.
This would not be the first time the American boycotted a press conference after she was fined for failing to show up in her first round loss to Sloane Stephens.
Ademola Adejuwon
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