Local News

Table Tennis: History beckons as Africa Cup action hits final day

Published

6 months ago

May 14, 2024

After two days of exciting matches, the 2024 ITTF Africa Cup would climax on Tuesday, May 14, with semifinal and final clashes in both the men and women singles categories.

28 men and 25 women set out to conquer the field at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. As the action rolled on, many fell by the wayside, overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the eight players going into the final day matchups.

Three Egyptians and a Nigerian will slug it out for passage into the final match for the women’s singles title, while the semifinal battle in the men’s singles will be between Nigeria and Egypt.

Women’s singles top seed Dina Meshref of Egypt, who eliminated Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou in the quarterfinal, will face a familiar foe in Nigeria’s Offiong Edem in the first semifinal match of the day.

The second semifinal tie will be a battle between defending champion Hana Goda of Egypt and her compatriot, Mariam Alhodaby.

In the absence of defending champion Omar Assar of Egypt due to a recurring knee injury, a new king of African table tennis will be crowned in Kigali.

In the first semifinal, the top seed in the men’s singles, Quadri Aruna of Nigeria, will take on Egyptian southpaw Youssef Abdel-Aziz, who staged a scintillating comeback in the quarterfinal to edge out the number two seed, Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa.

In the second semifinal match of the men’s singles, Egypt’s Mohamed El-Beiali will clash with 2019 African Games champion, Olajide Omotayo of Nigeria.

The final matches of both categories will take place later in the day to bring to a fitting end this star-studded continental tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the 2025 ITTF World Cup.

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Local News

Champions League: Ayodele Thomas Congratulates Edo Queens On Semi-Finals Ticket

Published

8 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Champions League: Ayodele Thomas Congratulates Edo Queens On Semi-Finals Ticket

One of Nigeria’s foremost female football promoter and investors, Ayodele Thomas, has congratulated the management and team of Nigeria’s representatives at the ongoing CAF Women’s Champions league, Edo Queens, for beating defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1, to qualify for the semi-finals stage of the championship.

In his statement, Thomas, the CEO of TopPro Sports Management Company, described the feats of the Edo Queens, as awesome and inspiring. He noted that while no Nigerian female club has reached this level, the Edo Queens have invariably made a statement that female football in Nigeria, is once again, on the rise.

“I am proud of our girls. Beating the defending champions to qualify for the semi-finals in no mean feat. They are true ambassadors of Nigeria.

“Let me also appreciate the efforts of the Edo State government and the State Sports Commission. They have been instrumental in all the feats achieved so far, by the girls,” Thomas added.

He went ahead to urge the girls to beat their next opponents, TP Mazembe, and go ahead to make history as the first Nigerian female team to win the lucrative CAF Women’s Champions League title.

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Local News

Edo Queens Battle TP Mazembe For Champions League Final Place

Published

13 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Edo Queens Battle TP Mazembe For Champions League Final Place

Gritty Nigerian champions Edo Queens will now battle TP Mazembe for a place in the CAF Women’s Champions League final after they literally came from the dead to upstage mighty Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Nigerian champions won Group B with seven points and will Tuesday do battle in the semifinal against TP Mazembe, who finished as runners-up in Group A.

Home team AS FAR of Morocco will take on FC Masar of Egypt in the other semifinal.

Edo Queens were heading home after they conceded the opening goal in the 24th minute to two-time Champions League winners Sundowns, before they scored twice in stoppage.

Emem Essien, who inspired the comeback with the equaliser, was named Player of the Match.

Scorenigeria

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Local News

After Controversial Report, NFF Promise Super Eagles 10% Of Outstanding Monies

Published

13 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

After Controversial Report, NFF Promise Super Eagles 10% Of Outstanding Monies

After a controversial breaking story by ScoreNigeria, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Ibrahim Gusau, has promised the Super Eagles will be paid 10% of their outstanding payments not later than next month.

The Super Eagles expressed their disappointment that they have not been paid allowances and bonuses with some of these monies dating as far back as 2020.

The players said this has caused them to lack the motivation to play for the national team.

This was at a meeting in Abidjan with Gusau.

The NFF boss has now given the team a commitment that due to the poor finances of the NFF, they will receive 10% of these monies in the new month.

However, close watchers have been left stunned by the rationale behind this payment even after the Federal Government of Nigeria paid 17 Billion Naira to the NFF to offset the debts owed the Super Eagles as well as the Flying Eagles, Falconets and the Golden Eaglets that go back several years.