South West Badminton Championship Serves Off In Lagos

The second edition of the South West Badminton Championship has served off at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos with all the states in the South West geopolitical zone of the country participating.

The tournament which holds from March 28-31 will see players in both junior boys and girls as well as senior men and female  categories sweeting it  out on  the courts to decide who emerges champion in different categories at the end of the day.

Speaking on the tournament, Chairman of Lagos State Badminton Association, John Duru Esq. noted  that the championship is being organised to further develop the racket game in the South West states, positing that the  successes recorded in the maiden edition made the association to include junior categories in this year’s edition.

” We’re using this championship to discover hidden talents and further develop the game in the South West geopolitical zone of the country.

” You will remember that last year we had only the senior players participating but the successes we recorded, made us include the junior category comprising of U-14 boys and girls and they’ve showcased a lot of good talent.

“With what I’ve seen since the commencement of the championship, I can see a lot of future champions among the young ones; so it’s going to be a very competitive tournament and we expect the best from our players.

The association’s boss, was also happy that players discovered in the tournament represented Nigeria in Egypt and at the just concluded African Games in Ghana where badminton gave  ‘Team Nigeria’ it’s first  gold medal at the Games,  promising they’ll continue to maintain the momentum.

” Lagos State Badminton has really done a lot in developing the game and this championship is a training ground for future champions which is what the association in conjunction with the state’s Sports Commission and the Lagos State Government is out  to achieve.

” Our desire is to bring up hidden  talents, take them off the streets and give them opportunity to showcase their talents and become useful citizens to the country and their families.

” There’s no doubt that the country is blessed with abundant talents but all they need is exposure and enabling environment to achieve podium success and we’ll help them achieve their potentials”, he stated.

Duru who expressed appreciation to the Lagos State Government and few sponsors  for the championship appealed for more sponsorship from corporate organisations to enable the game grow further.

On what to expect on the finals coming up on Easter Sunday, he stated that he expect to see new talents emerging and a very competitive and entertaining finals.