Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
Rivers State has emerged champions of the south-South u15/21 & veterans badminton championship.
Rivers got the first position with 9 gold, 5 silver, and 5 bronze medals.
Edo State came 2nd with1gold and 3 silver medals.
Akwa Ibom State finished 3rd with 1gold, 2 bronze while Bayelsa occupied the last position with just one bronze medal.
In the meantime, the Permanent Secretary of Rivers State Ministry of Sports Honour Sirawoo says the championship has unearthed new talents for the State ahead of the National Sports Festival.
He also asked other Sports Associations in the State to emulate Badminton Association in organizing the grassroots competition.
Honour Sirawoo who is also the National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria SWAN said the sportswriters will continue to push for talent development at the grassroots.
”These are the preparations we are having and if you’re a President of a Sports Federation your dream should be how many medals you win at the Olympics or any international competition”.
”So, what badminton has done is to begin to prepare the ground for this festival. So other chairmen should also emulate that. We are hoping they will give us the template. Ours is to provide the enabling environment, theirs is to come up with the ideas and we’ll push it for them” he said.
The Chairman of Rivers State Badminton Association MUSA DAHIRU said he was satisfied with the outcome of the tournament.
He said the Association will continue to work hard to get more competitions for the athletes ahead of the National Sports Festival and other tournaments.
In his comment, the Patron of Rivers State Badminton Association, Charles Fingesi said he will look for more sponsors to get into the game of Badminton.
Charles Fingesi said they will get more people to be involved in badminton through sponsorships and partnerships.
He also revealed that the State is making plans to host another international competition like the All African Badminton Championships that took place in Rivers State in 2019.
