Flight tickets up for grabs, as Lagos Badminton Classic ends

The Lagos Badminton Classics which ends today will see a lot of celebrities in attendance. Apart from the esteemed presence of the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode who has always graced the previous finals, this year will see celebrities in the entertainment industry attending.

They include Funke Akindele, Desmond Elliot, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Kunle Bamtefa, Sound Sultan, Kunle Afolayan and Olarewaju Ogunmefun, a hip hop artist who is better known by his stage name, Vector tha Viper.

According to the president of Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, who is also the chairman of Lagos State Badminton Association, the attendance of the celebrities is to open a new vista in the international classics by bringing a blend of sports and entertainment.

“Call it sportainment if you like,” remarked the Nigerian badminton boss.

“Also, a raffle draw will be made for all attendees. At stake are two return tickets to London and Accra, Ghana.”

They are offered by Medview Airlines. According to the organizers, each person at the Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall venue of the event will be given a raffle ticket before the draw.

A draw will then be made to determine the two winners. This year’s edition has already seen an increase in the prize money which has risen from a package of $15,000 to $20,000. Orbih remarked that the tournament will keep increasing in significance and attendance and that the next edition will witness new additions to make the classics bigger.

Ahead of the final day, the classics had witnessed upsets. In fact the Day Two had the highest amount of upsets in the four-day championship which commenced on Wednesday, at the Molade Okoya Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

Following Day One’s qualifiers, one of Lagos top seed Godwin Olofua was knocked out by Isaac Minaphee of Taraba; Enejo Abah of Nigeria was put through his paces as he bowed out of the tournament in the Round of 32 to Ahmed Salah of Egypt, 21-11, 21-16—two straight sets.

Number one seed in the men’s category, Israeli’s Misha Zilberman, made a rather easy progress over Herbert Ebayo of Uganda in two straight sets and further, beat Ghanaian’s Michael Opoku Baah to progress to the quarter finals in the men’s singles.

While Femi Bioku of the Lagos contingent ended his campaign in the hands of second seed, Maddaloni of Italy, current Ivory Coast champion, Anuoluwapo Opeyori looks to be the only light for hosts, Lagos State, after making his way to this year’s quarter final rounds following his triumphant displays over Olamide Adebayo and Habeeb Bello in the Round of 32s and 16s respectively.

Thursday’s highest number of upsets came from the women category as the championship’s number one seeded female player, Hadia Hosny of Egypt was dumped out by unseeded Vrushali Gummadi of India in a tight three set encounter—15-21, 21-9, and 21-13.

For total casualties in the female category, the Day Two set of matches saw four major upsets from top seeds in the category; the likes of second seeded Menna Eltanany of Egypt; Grace Gabriel of Nigeria who is fifth seed; third seeded Egyptian, Doha Hany and Hadia Hosny also of Egypt who is the highest ranked female player in the championship.