Badminton Classics: Orbih assures on Nigerian players
President of Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Francis Orbih, has expressed optimism that Nigerian players participating in this year’s third edition of the Lagos International Badminton Classics which served off Wednesday at the Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, has what it takes to surpass their quarter- finals finish in the last two editions.
He noted that the Federation in order to ensure good representation by the country’s players, organised close camping to enable them horn their skills ahead of the biggest Badminton prize money tournament in the continent.
“In the last two editions, Nigerian players never went beyond the quarter- final stage and that was why we organised close camping for them and encouraged some of them to attend some invitational tournaments to keep them in shape ahead of the classics.
“I don’t want to sound optimistic that they will win the tournament because most of their opponents have built up a lot of confidence having participated in many international championships before coming to Nigeria, but I expect them to go beyond the last eight in the tournament,“ he stated.
According to him, the target of the organisers is to see that the game is played at its best, even as he challenged other states in the country to emulate Lagos State and organise Badminton championships in their states.
“Our major target is to see the game played at its best and improve on the achievements we recorded in previous editions.
“This improvement involves improving Nigerian players whom we expect to give their opponents from Benin Republic, Ghana, India, Egypt, Israel, Uganda, Cameroon, Italy, Ghana, Portugal and Sri Lanka a good fight,” concluded Orbih who also doubles as chairman of Lagos State Badminton Association.
ANDREW EKEJIUBA
