The Nigeria Fencing Federation has officially named an 11-man squad that will represent Nigeria at next month All Africa Games in Congo, Brazzaville.
According to the federations’ boss, Adeyinka Samuel the Nigerian team will compete for honours in the sport with eight male and three female.
The male fencers are Adeniyi Williams, Harrison Okoro, Femi Sangowawa, Fega Okwa, Zulu Shuaib, Olayinka Oladele Sulaimon Bello and Samuel, who himself is a top fencer having been ranked in the top 100 in the world few years ago.
US-based Aikenosi Akhigbe, Jane Ishioma Yadi, who is based in the UK, and Damilola Odeleye are the female members of the team. The training schedule has also been stepped up in order to get the best out of the team.
Samuel, who has featured in a host of international championships, expressed confidence on the team to scoop a number of medals which he believes will help Nigeria’s course to finish among the top three on the final medals table.
He hinged his optimism on the decent outing posted by some of the country’s fencers at the last African Fencing Championship in Egypt in June.
photo credit: Nigeria Fencing Federation
“We are delighted to be officially registered by the organizers of the All Africa Games and we are determine to make the most of the opportunity presented to us to make a great impact which we believe will help in the popularity as well as the development of the sport in Nigeria,” Samuel stated, as he urged the Sports Ministry to pay some attention to fencing which he pointed is a multi-medal sport.
Nigeria will be featuring in the individual and team events in Sabre, Epee and Foil.
Interim Coach Chris Danjuma has invited to camp a total of 35 players in preparation for the Women’s Football Tournament of next month’s 11th All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo.
Onome Ebi, Francisca Ordega, Halimat Ayinde, Esther Sunday and Josephine Chukwunonye – who all missed Sunday’s defeat in Equatorial Guinea which meant ouster from the 2016 Olympics race – have been called again, but injured star forward Asisat Oshoala is left out.
Osinachi Ohale, Ngozi Ebere, Desire Oparanozie, Ngozi Okobi and Evelyn Nwabuoku, who were at the FIFA World Cup in Canada in June, are joined by junior internationals Yetunde Adeboyejo, Chinaza Uchendu and Chinwendu Ihezuo.
All the players are to report at the Serob Legacy Hotel, Abuja on Monday, August 10 with their international passports and training kits. The Super Falcons will play host Congo-Brazzaville, Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire in Group A of the Women’s Football Tournament of the All-Africa Games. Cameroon, South Africa, Ghana and Egypt are in Group B.
To put the athletes in the right frame of mind ahead of the 11th All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville, President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF), George Ashiru is organising a one-day training seminar for athletes.
The one-day seminar holds at the Business Club, Ikeja Fitness Centre in Lagos on Saturday June 27 and it will be personally taught by the NTF president.
In a statement issued and signed by Ashiru, current national champions are expected to attend the six-hour programme of physical and competition training as well as motivational talks.
George Ashiru, President Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, NTF.
Ashiru, who was pioneer Nigerian Welterweight Champion and was part of the historic first national Taekwondo team to the 4th All Africa Games in Nairobi Kenya in 1987, That team of 7 young men won 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 bronze medal…a feat that that has yet to be surpassed by subsequent national teams to various All Africa Games since then will bring his experience as an athlete to fore during the training exercise.
As the first former international champion to become the national president for Taekwondo, Ashiru hopes to bring that 1987 spirit back to 2015 by building on their superlative commonwealth championship of 2014 which produced an unprecedented 10 medals including 4 gold medals.
It added that the seminar hopes to inspire the current national team to produce a record breaking performance at the Brazzaville games coming up in September.
A few weeks ago we were invited to join the NSC DG on a facility tour/inspection of the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos. Nigeria . here are some of the pictures i took.
In a few weeks/months time Nigerian Athletes will be in Brazzaville Congo for the 2015 All African Games and they will be expected to “excel” regardless of the kind of preparation they have had.
Fast forward to 2016 and it will be time for another Jamboree to Rio for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Australians started camping well over a year ago and of course so many other serious minded nations have already started preparations for this event.
In Nigeria will wait until the last minute for us to invite athletes to camp then bemoan the fate of the athletes when they fail to “perform” up to standard.
We will then announce that its time to go back to the drawing board and start the whole circle all over again.
While Nigeria has got an abundance of talent in virtually every sport, the state of our Sporting Facilities can be said to be a reflection of the managers/administrators of Nigerian Sports.
I can recall that i also posted pictures of the same facility (National Stadium Surulere) when the then newly appointed minister of sports Tammy Danagogo came calling and yet nothing has been done about it.
Swimming pool of the National Stadium SurulereSwimming pool of the National Stadium SurulereThe Olympic Size Swimming pool of the National Stadium Surulere
There is an abundance of talent in Nigeria, but how will an athlete train with these type of facilities?
The Only positive part of the Inspection of the National Stadium is the newly completed Hostel/hotel. But even that facility is already bedevilled with the unfortunate luck of being located next to a “beer parlour” i pity who ever gets the Job of Being camp commandant.
We want to excel in our sporting endeavours, we want our athletes to be the best amongst their peers but yet we find it difficult to give them the basic tools required to excel.
The National Sports Commission has got to go back to the basics, or the maintenance of these facilities should be outsourced to companies that have got the expertise to keep them shipshape.
Pictures of how the Beautiful edifice thats the Abuja National Stadium was allowed to get into a state of disrepair still haunts me as i write this, and it is common knowledge that the story is the same across Nigeria.
A recent trip to the USA gave yours truly a first hand look at how and why countries like America will continue to excel in sports for many years to come.
community sports centre in Florida
Virtually every “Estate” (gated community) has got basic well maintained sporting facilities Like, Tennis and Volleyball Courts and even a swimming pool and Gym. Just five minutes walk away is the Community Centre with A Baseball Diamond, two basketball courts two football fields and a play pen for little kids.
It was heartbreaking to note that the facilities at the Average Community Centre in America are far better than what we’ve got at the National Stadium in Lagos.
This is a Call to Us all to join the Campaign to #SaveOurGame by calling on all the decision makers to stop playing yoyo with our Children’s future. Our athletes deserve better.
If we fix the facilities our athletes will get a chance to flourish, Sports is Big Business and Sports can provide employment for tens of thousands of Nigerians. Sports Can Boost the Nigerian Economy in ways that we have not even imagined.
So lets start by fixing our facilities.
The Mainbowl of the National Stadium SurulereThe Mainbowl of the National Stadium SurulereThe Mainbowl of the National Stadium SurulereWeightlifters training at the National Stadium Surulereweightlifters training at the National Stadium Surulere
A FINA clinic for swimming officials was organised by the Fédération Congolaise de Natation (FECONAT) from April 13-17 in the capital city, Brazzaville (CGO). The clinic attracted 26 participants aspiring to become official technical staff at the African Games.
The five-day course was aimed to strengthen the technical officials’ expertise. Strategic positioning and handling of the tools were trained with practical exercises.
The FECONAT provided key information about the latest sports technical trends and in particular about the 11th African Games to be held from September 4-19, 2015 in Brazzaville. A visit of the future competition venues was organised for the participants all coming from surrounding nations.
Ten applicants have been selected to be official timekeepers at the next African Games.
Hosts Botswana and their neighbours Mozambique booked Zone 6 tickets to the 2015 All Africa Games after they finished both men and women qualification tournaments held at the legendary Ditshupo Hall in Botswana in the top 2 positions.
Both countries will be represented by both men and women teams at All Africa Games finals in Congo Brazzaville from 4-19 September, 2015.
Mozambique Men
In the men’s side Mozambique won the top position of the podium following their victory against Botswana in the final 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23). Mozambique finished the 4 nation tournament in the first position with 3-0 followed by Botswana 2-1. Zimbabwe beat Zambia 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-11) to calim the third position with 1-2, where Zambia ended their campaign at the bottom of the table with 0-3.
In the women’s final Botswana revenged to overwhelm Mozambique (25-16, 25-17, 25-20) and get the first position with 3-0, followed by the losers 2-1, however both teams confirmed All Africa Games tickets. Zimbabwe followed the footsteps of their men’s counterparts to beat Zambia 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-13) to clinch the third position with 1-2 ahead of the losers who finished with 0-3 record.
Botswana Women team
Final Ranking
Men Tournament
1. Mozambique
2. Botswana
3. Zimbabwe
4. Zambia
Women Tournament
1. Botswana
2. Mozambique
3. Zimbabwe
4. Zambia
Men’s Individual Awards
Best Setter – Tjiyapo Madeluka (Botswana)
Best Server – Agisanang Kurwana (Botswana)
Best Blocker- Simione Belton (Mozambique)
Best Spiker – Choto Douglas Rufaro (Zimbabwe)
Libero – Mwandu Chindima (Zambia)
Most Valuable Player – Choto Douglas Rufaro (Zimbabwe)
Nigerian team will return to the international stage at the World Taekwondo Federation(WTF)-organised World Championships holding this week in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Three experienced athletes led by Beijing 2008 Olympics bronze medalist, Chika Chukwumerije will hoist Nigeria’s flag at the global tournament, where athletes are expected to garner points for their final qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil.
United States-based Saturday Bashir and France-based Murtala Mohammed will be on duty at the tournament kicking off tomorrow at Traktor Arena in Chelyabinsk.
Besides Nigeria, some top African teams like Gabon, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire and Tunisia are also using the tournament as a tune-up to this year’s All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.
According to the President, Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF), George Ashiru who was at yesterday’s WTF Annual General Meeting (AGM) said the team’s build up was hampered by the political and economic situation in the country.
George Ashiru, President Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, NTF.
He however ruled out prospect of medals. “Our chances are much slimmer than usual because we didn’t have the luxury and indeed necessity of a formal training camp you would expect from the biggest event of the year. We had expected to camp our athletes for two months prior to the now rescheduled National Sports Festival, use the festival to test these preparations, and then take only the athletes that demonstrated ability for the nature of the event. None of these opportunities were afforded us early in the year. So, training was informal open camp, and some bureaucratic bottlenecks also hampered our final push for sponsorship of the full national team. Therefore, we won’t have similar results as we would ordinarily expect with proper preparation,” he added.
Meanwhile, the WTF Council has decided on the host cities of upcoming taekwondo championships and announced key appointments, including the organization’s new secretary general.
Muju, Korea, beat out Turkey’s Samsun to host the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships, while American Hoss Rafaty was named the new secretary general of the WTF.
The WTF Council also approved Mexico as the host country of the 2016 WTF World Junior Taekwondo Championships, and Lima, Peru as the host city of the 2016 WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships.
Taekwondo Team to the 2014 Commonwealth Taekwondo Games [L-R: Judith Usifoh, Adaeze Asigbe, Chiamaka Onumonu, Shola Olowookere, Sunday Onofe, Chinazum Nwosu, Jamilu Mohammed, Josephine Esuku, Shola Olushola, Adamu Abubakar Isah, Ebere Blessing Nwakanma and Team Captain & Athlete-Coach, Chika Chukwumerije]. Uche Chukwumerije and Murtala Mohammed are not in the picture
Also WTF has announced the appointment of Hoss Rafaty as the WTF Secretary General during the WTF Council meeting in Chelyabinsk, Russia, ahead of the 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships.
Hoss Rafaty has served as a special assistant to the WTF President since 2007 as well as President of the WTF International Foundation since 2008 and Chairman of the WTF Expansion Committee since 2009. As co-founder and President of Yumi Ice Cream Co., Hoss Rafaty will also bring extensive commercial business experience to his new role. He was awarded a taekwondo 3rd Dan by the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) before moving to the WTF.
Botswana and Mozambique Men and Women teams continued their winning rhythm at All Africa Games Zone 6 qualifiers held at the legendary Ditshupo Hall in Botswana on Wednesday to come closer to clinch the zonal tickets to All Africa Games finals in Congo Brazzaville from 4-19 September, 2015.
In the men’s side Mozambique overwhelmed Zambia 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23) to improve their win- loss ratio to 2-0.
Botswana went also to clean sheet after they topped Zimbabwe 3-1 (26-28, 25-25, 25-23, 25-19) to improve to 2-0.
Botswana men team
In the women’s side Mozambique cruised past Zambia 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-19) to improve their record to 2-0, while Botswana fought aggressively to beat Zimbabwe 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-13, 25-14) as they also went to 2-0.
In the third and final day of the round robin competition on Thursday, Zimbabwe women take on their Zambian counterparts at 12noon, followed by the same countries’ men’s teams squaring up at 14:00. Botswana women will conclude their tournament against Mozambique for the top two positions at 16:00 while the same teams meet at 18:00 on the men’s side final.
Mozambique women team
The top 2 teams in each category confirm their qualification to All Africa Games.
Nigeria senior men basketball team D’Tigers will travel to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Friday for the first leg tie against the Burkinabe in group-E double qualifiers for the 29th Afrobasket and the 11th All Africa Games.
The Nigerian side is made up of an 18-man list led by the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijjani Umar will take on the Burkinabe on Monday March 16 with the return leg slated for March 25 in Nigeria.
The squad is made up of twelve players with ten of them drawn from the Nigerian DStv Premier Basketball League and two foreign based players.
Nigeria hope of qualifying for her 17th outing at Africa biggest basketball showpiece rest on coaches Sani Ahmed and Ayinla Johnson and twelve players which includes Olumide Oyedeji (centre); Ejike Ugboaja (forward); Stanley gumut (forward); Abubakar Usman (guard); Matthew Onmonya (forward); and Ibrahim Yusuf (guard/forward).
Other players in the squad are Adeolu Olaiya Ojo (guard); Abdulwahab Yakubu (guard); Abdulwahab Yahaya (forward); Azuoma Dike (guard); Dele Ademola (forward) and Abayomi Oyeniyi (forward). The delegation also has Muktar Khaleh, Patrick Okeke (S.G, NBBF); Patrick Omorodion (media); Dr. Ohida Suleiman (team doctor) and Dayo Ogunkunle (physio).
According to the team head Coach Sani Ahmed that the team will not disappoint Nigerians as the players and its handlers has its mind set for picking the sole slot in the group.
“We respect our opponent (Burkina Faso) but they are not capable of stopping from qualifying for both the Afrobasket and All Africa Games as we looking forward to challenging for the Afrobasket title and also defending our All Africa Games gold medal won four years ago in Mozambique.
“The players are ready to prove that they are worthy ambassadors of Nigeria basketball and mentally, physically and psychological prepared for the two-leg qualifier, Coach Ahmed concluded.
The team will fly to Lagos from their Abuja camp from where they expected to connect an afternoon flight aboard ASky airline.
Preparatory to the Afrobasket 2015 qualifiers against Burkina Faso, as well as the All Africa Games in Brazzaville, the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has invited 14 home-based players to resume camp in Abuja.
According to the federation, the invited players are to report at the Parkview Hotel Abuja on Sunday, February 8, 2015 while training sessions begin on Monday, February 9, 2015.
The team will be coached by familiar faces former D’Tigers assistant coaches Kano Pillars’ Head coach Sani Ahmed and to assisted by Ayinla Johnson, Head coach Union Bank Basketball club of Lagos.
The home-based players will however, be joined by a number of international players in due course.
D TIGERS
The 14 D’Tigers Players
1) Abubakar Usman ( Kano Pillars)
2) Stanley Gumut (Mark Mentors)
3) Mathew Omonya (Kano Pillars)
4) Ibrahim Yusuf (Kano Pillars)
5) Abdul Yahaya (Mark Mentors)
6) Moses Odaudu (Mark Mentors)
7) Victor Anthony (Mark Mentors)
8) Azuoma Dike (Dodan Warriors)
9) Timothy Kwaor (Mark Mentors)
10) Onyeka Okeke ( Kano Pillars)
11) Ibrahim Okpe (Lagos Islanders)
12) Dele Ademola (Kano Pillars)
13) Adeolu Ojo (Kano Pillars)
14) Abdulwahab Yakubu (Kano Pillars)
CAVB Beach VB Commission is set to meet today in Cairo, Egypt to discuss the busy Calendar of 2015 headed by CAVB President Dr Amr Elwani and attended by the whole commission members.
The meeting discusses the busy African calendar in 2015 as it includes the most prominent event, the CAVB Continental Cup, which acts as a qualification for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
Namibia Ladies Rosi Hennes- Simone von Wietersheim- Stephanie Palmhert-Kim Seebach
The second edition of the competition attracted more than 40 NFs throughout 4 different rounds until it produced the team which eventually represented Africa at the elite event.
Among other important events, the qualifications for All Africa Games will be another important competition where the qualifications will be on zonal basis to qualify 24 teams for the finals in Congo Brazzaville September 4 to 19, 2015.
The first ever qualification for the 2015 FIVB World Championships will be another important issue on the table of discussions after the FIVB granted Africa 4 vacancies among 32 teams in the finals for each gender.
The man who won Nigeria an Olympic silver medal in football six years ago is on the march again, as preparations for the building of a new strong squad has already commenced.
Former Super Eagles’ Captain and Coach, Samson Siasia has called up 39 players to open a screening camp in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Sunday, with another set of 39 and a final set of 38 to follow in batches.
Siasia has the assignment to raise a squad that will qualify Nigeria for the Men’s Football Tournament of the 11th All –Africa Games (taking place in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo in July 2015) as well as qualify for the CAF U-23 Championship (taking place in DR Congo, also next year), and also qualify for the Men’s Football Tournament of the 2016 Olympic Games through the CAF U-23 Championship.
The first hurdle is an All –Africa Games qualifying fixture against Gabon, with the first leg away in Libreville towards the end of February, and the return leg in Nigeria early March. The winner of that fixture squares up against the winner of the fixture between Zambia and Madagascar in late March.
The Dream Team, as Nigeria’s Olympic squad is known, will then take on the winner among Ghana, Liberia and Congo in the qualifying race for the CAF U-23 Championship in July.
Olympic gold medallists in Atlanta, USA in 1996, the Dream Team faltered at the 2000 Games in Australia, failed to qualify for the Athens 2004 Games, won silver medal in Beijing in 2008 and failed to qualify for the London Games in 2012.
Siasia has explained that each batch will spend only three days in camp before the other, with the selected ones among the lot to convene a proper camp late December. All the players are to report at FIFA Technical Centre, Abuja.
Siasia Samson fifa.com
FIRST BATCH (23 – 25 November)
Goalkeepers: Emmanuel Daniel (Enugu Rangers); Kasim Yekini (Bayelsa United)
![Taekwondo Team to the 2014 Commonwealth Taekwondo Games [L-R: Judith Usifoh, Adaeze Asigbe, Chiamaka Onumonu, Shola Olowookere, Sunday Onofe, Chinazum Nwosu, Jamilu Mohammed, Josephine Esuku, Shola Olushola, Adamu Abubakar Isah, Ebere Blessing Nwakanma and Team Captain & Athlete-Coach, Chika Chukwumerije]. Uche Chukwumerije and Murtala Mohammed are not in the picture](https://finixsports.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/8-tkd-team-to-2014-commonwealth-games-e1416874984585.jpg)
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