144 players battle for cash at Rivers Governor’s badminton tourney

Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), has said that the first Rivers Governor’s Badminton Championship, which is currently going on in Port Harcourt will be used as a test run for the African Senior Championship in April. 

The BFN president, Francis Orbih, stated that the national championship would give the state the opportunity to test-run the facilities and upgrade where necessary before the African championship, which comes up in Rivers State in April.

“With Rivers State winning the bid to host Africa’s most prestigious Badminton Championship, the BFN and the Rivers State Government thought it wise to establish a National Badminton Championship, to test run the facilities in the state and in the process, institute a National Badminton Championship in the state for the first time,” the organisers added.

A total of 144 players from the 24 states of Federation are participating in the championship, which served off yesterday at the Alfred Diette Spiff Civic Centre in Port Harcourt.

The tournament, the biggest money-spinning event in the country is attracting the best players with top seeds, Dorcas Adesokan and Anu Opeyori leading the pack of the rest to the tournament. Some of the players who have represented Nigeria at international tournaments will bring their experience to bear in the championship. 

According to BFN, the points garnered by players in this championship is for national ranking, while the African championship is a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The federation noted that all the participants were ready to play their part in an exciting tournament with the just concluded National Sports Festival in Abuja last week serving as preparatory ground for the Rivers Governor’s championship.

“The National Sports Festival gave the players the opportunity to get in shape for the national championship. Once the Sports Festival ended, arrangements were to transport the players from Abuja to participate at the national championships.

The BFN also assured that the Local Organising Committee is currently working round the clock to explore opportunities for partnerships to make the event a remarkable one.