Bright Future Cycling Club, Ibadan, stole the show in the junior category of the Second Monthly Criterium organised by CC 12 Cycling Club, Lagos.
In the race held at the Ikoyi GRA, Lagos on September 24 where the cyclists covered 45.5km, Odebiyi Azeez of Bright Future Cycling Club (BFCC) and SS III student of Government College, Apata, Ibadan, finished ahead of other competitors in the junior cadre to claim the gold.
He was followed by his team-mate, Zakariyau Faruq, an SS II student of Sacred Heart Secondary School, Inalende, Ibadan, while Bamidele Bello also of BFCC and SS I student of Atanda Comprehensive High School, Ibadan, clinched the bronze.
In the senior category, Effiok Eyo of CC 12 claimed the gold in a time of one hour and four seconds, as Ajibade Sodiq also of CC 12 settled for the silver with a time of one hour and five seconds, while Afeez Bakare won the bronze in a time of one hour and nine seconds.
Pedal Power, Ibadan and the cycling teams from Ogun and Lagos states also participated at the monthly event which featured 35 cyclists.
Meanwhile, Coach Kolapo Aminu of the Bright Future Cycling Club, has expressed satisfaction with the performance of his wards at the event.
"We are happy that our cyclists are improving with each competition. When we came for the first edition, we didn't perform up to this level. Apart from the trio who made the podium, We also paraded Ojo John and Asiribo Olamilekan who also did their best.
"I give kudos to the organisers for creating a platform for these young cyclists to develop because we must expose them to regular competitions to build them for major championships. It is through regular competitions that we can ascertain the performance of every cyclist and not training alone and that is why all stakeholders must rally round CC 12 to be able to sustain this Monthly Criterium.
"Our cyclists were so happy with their performance and they are looking forward to the October edition," Coach Aminu told harmonysport.blogspot.com.
Also, Team Coordinator of BFCC, Odebiyi Gafary said with proper motivation, Nigeria is blessed with a crop of young talented cyclists who would make the country proud in the near future.
"The best way is to catch these cyclists young and expose them and that is what we are trying to do in Oyo State and with what we have seen at several competitions we have attended, the future is bright for Nigeria.
"I believe Nigeria in the near future would begin to dominate cycling even in Africa as a whole because we have the potential," Gafary told harmonysport.blogspot.com.
The third CC 12 Monthly Criterium is scheduled to hold on Saturday, October 29, 2016 in
Lagos.
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Caption:
Photo 1: Proud winners from the Bright Future Cycling Club pose after their heroics in Lagos. From left is Zakariyau Faruq, Odebiyi Azeez and Bamidele Bello.
Photo 2: The winners in the senior category after receiving their medals. From left is Ajibade Sodiq, Effiok Eyo and Afeez Bakare.
Ajeast Nigeria Limited, bottlers of Big Cola soft drinks has boosted this year’s Med-View/Lagos NUJ Media Games with a donation of N1million.
Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Lagos State Council, ‘Deji Elumoye
disclosed on Wednesday that the company has promised to support the annual event of the
journalists.
“The donation when eventually released will go a long way in the organisation of the Games and we hope our relationship with the company will be a lasting one,” said Elumoye.
Reacting to the donation, Marketing Executive of the company, Perpetua Ohiri, said the company decided to support the Games because of the roles of journalists in the country.
“This is a new relationship and I want to say that it has come to stay. This is just the beginning and by God’s grace, we will improve on our donation during next year’s event.
“We all know what is going on in the country, hence we could have done more than this but definitely, next year’s edition will be bigger and better,” Ohiri said.
Over 200 journalists are participating in this year’s edition of the Games in seven events - football, athletics, scrabble, chess, draught, ayo and table tennis.
Meanwhile, The Sun and Vanguard soccer teams will on Friday, October 28 clash at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, in the first semi-final of the NUJ Games, while defending champions, Lagos Information Chapel will tackle the Voice of Nigeria (VON) Chapel in another battle for the final ticket.
Enrique Lopez-Perez of Spain last Saturday won the men's singles of the 16th Lagos Governor's Tennis Cup decided at the centre court of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
Lopez-Perez Perez, who won the competition in the 2012 edition outplayed French-Nigerian-born Calvin Hemery 7-5, 7-5 to win the second leg (Futures 6) of the International Tennis Federation-sanctioned circuit.
The Spaniard had on October 15 won the first leg (Futures 5) on the same court after defeating Gianni Mina 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-1.
However, Hemery, born to a Nigerian father gave his opponent a fight which made the final to last over three hours before the winner could emerge.
A drizzle of rain forced the second set then at 2-2 to be stopped for some minutes before the gladiators later returned to the court to settle their differences to the admiration of spectators including the Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Tunji Bello.
Hemery, a debutant in the tournament and seeded number two had lost in the quarter-final of the Futures 5 also won by the Spaniard, Lopez-Perez.
Earlier in the day, it was a sweet revenge for Swiss Conny Perrin as she defeated her perennial rival, Tadeja Majeric of Slovakia in a near one-sided game which ended in 6-3, 6-3.
Majeric, winner of the 2013 edition, it will be recalled, had defeated Perrin 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to win the first leg (Futures 5) also played on the same court on October 15.
Meanwhile, it was also a sweet revenge for Mr Ganiyu Salman as he came from behind to defeat Mr Fred Edoreh 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to win the second Media Tennis tournament of the Lagos Governor’s Tennis Cup.
Salman, Deputy Editor (Sports), Tribune titles had lost to Edoreh, Chairman of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Lagos chapter last year 1-6, 3-6 before his victory last weekend at the court five of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club.
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Caption:
The 2015 winner of the Media Tennis tournament of the Lagos Governor's Tennis Cup, Fred Edoreh (left) and the current champion, Ganiyu Salman, before their match last weekend at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
FORMER Nigeria international and celebrated sports columnist, Chief Segun Odegbami (MON), leads other pen pushers to the second media tennis exhibition of the Lagos Governor’s Tennis Cup Championship scheduled to hold on Saturday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos.
It will be recalled, that the chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Mr Fred Edoreh, won the inaugural event last year.
According to the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2016 Lagos Governor's Tennis Cup Championship, arrangements have been put in place towards making the exhibition tennis a huge success.
The media tennis event according to the Tournament Director of the 2016 Lagos Governor's Tennis Cup, Prince Wale Oladunjoye, is to encourage journalists to play tennis as a form of recreation which also serves as a platform to promote their physical fitness.
The competition will start at 7am on Saturday, October 22, the final day of the Lagos Governor's Tennis Cup proper, while the presentation of prizes to the winners will hold during the closing ceremonies the same day.
Other journalists listed for the tournament are broadcast sports analyst and presenter, Mr Ejiro Omonode; Chairman of Lagos SWAN, Mr Fred Edoreh; Deputy Editor (Sports), Nigerian Tribune, Mr Ganiyu Salman; Sports journalist with NAN, Mr Owolewa Olayinka; NTA Ogbomoso sports, Mr Femi Afariogun; Television and radio broadcaster, Mr Taiwo Oyeyemi and the Editor of the Osun State-based online news outfit, Mr Kayode Oladeji.
Meanwhile, National President of SWAN, Comrade Honour Sirawoo, has promised to grace the
media tennis exhibition saying "we have to encourage our members to keep fit at all times and this competition provides an avenue to promote healthy living."
Caption: Chief Segun Odegbami.
Tunisian Moez Echargui on Wednesday gave his host, Clifford Enosoregbe an 'unpleasant' birthday present as he sent the homeboy packing from the ongoing 16th edition of the
Lagos Governor's Tennis Cup.
On a day Enosoregbe was celebrating his birthday, his dream to make it to the quarter-final of the International Tennis Federation-sanctioned tournament was dashed, as he could not finish the second round, second leg (Futures 6) match played at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
Injury forced the Edo State-born player, who turned 27 On Wednesday, to retire in the second set of the men's singles with score at 0-4 after the Tunisian had claimed a 6-3 victory in the first set.
Enosoregbe received plaudits from a handful of spectators at the arena for his heroics after he could not continue with the match.
The wildcard entrant had last week in the first leg (Futures 5) created an upset when he defeated eight seed, Maciej Smola of Poland, before he lost to Indian Sasi Kumar Mukund in the quarter-final.
Enosoregbe also on Monday in the Futures 6 created another upset as he sent number seven seed, Benin Republic's Alexis Klegou packing, before he bowed to Tunisian Moez.
Also on Wednesday, other Nigerian players in the competition crashed out of the men's singles as Thomas Otu lost 6-2, 6-2 to Maciej Smola of Poland, while Joseph Imeh Ubon was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Boy Westerhof from The Netherlands.
Sylvester Emmanuel lost 6-4, 6-4 to Enrique Lopez-Perez of Spain as another homeboy,
Mohammed Mohammed lost to Indian Sasi Kumar Mukund 6-2, 6-0.
Also, no Nigerian player is left in the women's singles event of the tournament introduced in 2000.
It will be recalled that Sule Ladipo won the 2001 edition, while Michael Moses became the second Nigerian to win the men's singles of the tournament in 2014.
In the women's singles, Osaro Amadin remains the only Nigerian to have won the competition in 2000, while Sarah Adegoke finished as runner up in the 2014 edition after losing to Zarah Razafinmahatratra of Madagascar.
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Caption: Clifford Enosoregbe, fails to make it to the quarter-final this time.
Nigeria's Clifford Enosoregbe on Monday created another upset in the second leg (Futures 6) of the ongoing Lagos Gov’s Tennis Cup as he sent number seven seed, Benin Republic's Alexis Klegou packing.
Enosoregbe, a wildcard entrant won the first round men's singles match decided at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan 6-4, 6-3 to advance in the International Tennis Federation-sanctioned competition.
The Edo State-born Enosoregbe, it will be recalled, in the first leg (Futures 5) last week created an upset when he defeated eight seed, Maciej Smola of Poland, before he lost to Indian Sasi Kumar Mukund in the quarter-final.
Also on Monday, other Nigerians who made it to the second round of the men's singles are Joseph Imeh Ubon who beat Christopher Andrew Ito 6-4, 6-4, Mohammed Mohammed who defeated Ghanaian Tsatsu Segbedzie 7-6, 6-4, as Sylvester Emmanuel also proved supremacy over Ugandan Duncan Mugabe 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, while Thomas Otu outplayed compatriot Albert Bisong Bikom 6-1, 6-4.
However, Moses Michael was not so lucky as he gallantly lost to Maciej Smola of Poland 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, while Christopher Bulus also lost to Sasi Kumar Mukund of India 6-0, 6-2. Ikechukwu Iloputa equally lost to Tunisian Moez Echargui 6-2, 6-2, all in the men’s
singles.
In the women’s singles, top seed Valetini Grammatikopoulou from Greece beat Swede Brenda Njuki 6-4, 7-6, Harmony Tan of France defeated Japan's Ange Oby Kajuru 6-1, 6-1. Bulgarian Julia Terziyska defeated French Estelle Casino 6-2, 7-5 as Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine sent Nigerian teenage star, Angel MaCleod packing in a first round match which ended 6-0, 6-0.
Caption: Clifford Enosoregbe, can he break the quarter-final jinx this time?
Eight Nigerian players have bagged wild cards for the 16th Governor's Cup Lagos Tennis Championship which serves off on Saturday, October 8 at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Lagos.
The tournament will run till October 22.
The organisers of the tournament have increased the prize money to $100,000 from $80,000, which makes the tourney officially the ITF highest prize-money championship in Africa, Asia and South America.
Chairman of the LOC, Chief Pius Akinyelure, while speaking in Lagos at a media briefing said the increase in the prize money is a step towards raising the status of the tournament.
“This singular action ,the increase, has not only cemented Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis in the number one position in Futures Tournaments in Africa, Asia and South America, it is also the final step towards the tournament’s upgrading to the Challenger Series. This level, with its attendant economic and commercial benefits gels into the future of Lagos as a Mega City. We will be moving from an ITF tournament to a Professional Tennis Association (PTA) tournament which is only a step away from the ultimate in tennis, the Tennis Open,” Akinyelure said.
Also speaking, president of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Engineer Sani Ndanusa said the Governor’s Tennis Cup has become a household name and carnival to tennis lovers in Nigeria and the entire world.
Ndanusa, who was represented by the first vice-president of the NTF, Mr Yemi Owoseni,
commended Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode who sustained the sponsorship of the
tourney despite the recession in the country.
“Today, we are having six futures in our calendar which is likely to be around ten this time next year,” Ndanusa said.
In his remarks, Tournament Director, Prince Wale Oladunjoye revealed that it was challenging to attract sponsors due to recession in the country.
Meanwhile, only three Nigerian players made it to the second round of last year's Futures 4 of the men's singles, which was won by Antal Van Der Duim of The Netherlands as he defeated Zimbabwe's Takanyi Garangaga 6-3, 6-4.
The Nigerian trio of Sylvester Emmanuel lost to Fabio Reboul of France 6-2, 6-4, as Joseph Imeh Ubon lost to Garanganga 6-4, 6-2, while Umaru Balami was beaten by Antal Duim 6-2, 6-1.
Christian Paul, was Nigeria’s best performer at the 2015 men's singles Futures 3 as he reached the quarter-final before he lost 6-2, 6-1 to New Zealand’s Ben McLachlan.
Switzerland’s Conny Perrin clinched the women's singles Futures 4 title whe she dumped Tadeja Majeric of Slovakia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in the final.
Blessing Samuel emerged the only Nigerian who made it to the second round of the women's singles of Futures 4 before she lost to Tessah Andrianjaftrimo 6-0, 6-0.
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Caption:
Christian Paul, the only Nigerian who made it to the quarter-final of the men's singles Futures 3 of the 2015 Lagos Governor's Tennis Cup.
FINAL TABLE
P W D L PTS
1 Rangers 36 18 9 9 63
2 Rivers Utd 36 19 3 14 60
3 Wiki Tourists 36 16 9 11 57
4 FC Ifeanyiubah 36 16 8 12 56
CLUBS WITH 2017 CONTINENTAL TICKETS
.................................
5 Lobi Stars 36 16 7 13 55
6 Sunshine Stars 36 14 11 11 53
7 Kano Pillars 36 15 7 14 52
8 El-Kanemi 36 16 3 17 51
9 Enyimba FC 36 14 8 14 50
10 Nasarawa FC 36 16 2 18 50
11 N/Tornadoes 36 15 4 17 49
12 Plateau Utd 36 13 10 13 49
13 Abia Warriors 36 12 12 12 48
14 Akwa United 36 13 8 15 47
15 Shooting Stars 36 14 5 17 47
16 MFM, Lagos 36 12 9 15 45
.................
RELEGATED TEAMS
17 Warri Wolves 36 12 9 15 45
18 Heartland FC 36 11 11 14 44
19 Ikorodu Utd 36 07 11 18 32
20 Giwa FC 00 00 00 00 00
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NPFL 2016 season's notable goalscorers
1. Godwin Obaje (Wikki Tourists) 18 goals
2. Chisom Echugbulam (Rangers) 16 goals
3. Okiki Afolabi (Sunshine Stars) 13 goals
4. Abdulrahman Bashir (Nasarawa United) 13 goals
5. Ismaila Gata (Tornadoes/IfeanyiUbah 13 goals
6. Anthony Okpotu (Lobi Stars) 13 goals
7. Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars) 10 goals
8. Sunday Adetunji (Shooting Stars) 10 goals
9. Mustapha Ibrahim (El-Kanemi Warriors) 9 goals
10 Esosa Igbinoba (Nasarawa United) 9 goals
11. Stephen Odey (MFM FC, Lagos) 8 goals
12. Dele Olorundare (Sunshine Stars) 8 goals
13. Kingsley Eduwo (Lobi Stars) 8 goals
14. Wasiu Jimoh (3SC/IfeanyiUbah) 7 goals
15. Ubong Ekpai (Akwa United) 7 goals
Caption: The Goal King of the 2016 season, Godwin Obaje in a world of his own during a match. He succeeds Gbolahan Salami, who scored 17 goals for Warri Wolves last season.
*Rangers 4 El-Kanemi Warriors 0
Chisom Echugbulam (3, 57, 68 mins)
Osas Okoro (45 mins)
*Akwa United 1 Rivers United 2
Frederick Obomate -Rivers Utd
Fortune Omoniwari -Akwa United
Guy Kuemian scored -Rivers Utd (78 mins)
*Wikki Tourists 2 Sunshine Stars 0
Chukwudi Samuel (23 mins)
Mubarak Umar (28 mins)
* MFM, Lagos 1 FC Ifeanyiubah 0
Stanley Okorom (23 mins)
*Lobi Stars 2 Nasarawa United 0
Sunday Alimi
Yaya Kone Soumaila
*Kano Pillars 1 Niger Tornadoes 1
Adamu Mohammed -Pillars (17 mins)
Ifeanyi Okoye -Tornadoes (75 mins)
*Warri Wolves 1 Ikorodu Utd 0
Sikiru Alimi (36 mins)
*Abia Warriors 2 Shooting Stars 1
................( Abia Warriors)
................( Abia Warriors)
Nojeem Olukokun (Shooting Stars)
*Plateau United 1 Heartland 1
