Finals hold as 51st Asoju Oba Cup ends today at Teslim Balogun

The 51st edition of the Asoju Oba Cup championship will come to an end today with the grand finale in the cadet, women and men’s categories holding at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos State.

In one of quarterfinal matches played yesterday, the defending champion, David Fayele, taught Joseph Osendukwu a bitter lesson, as he made his opponent to eat his words. The Army officer overpowered the boastful Osendukwu in a devastating 4-1 result.

Meanwhile, the referee of the championship, Mr. John Peters, has stated that the 51st edition was an upgrade of the previous ones, adding that more players within the Lagos environs identified with the championship in their large numbers.

“I must commend the family of the late Sir Molade Alexander Okoya-Thomas for not allowing the standard of the Asoju Oba Cup to go down despite the demise of the initiator.

“They have maintained the quality and we can see from the interest the tournament has continued to generate among the players. And I am sure that some of the players competing here are aware of what the tournament has done in the lives, especially many of the top players in Nigeria.

“I believe so many of these players will also be looking forward to using this tournament to become world beaters in the nearest future,” Peters stated.

For the grand finale today, the venue of is now already wearing a new look, as the grandeur, which is synonymous with the tournament, will be witnessed with invited dignitaries expected at the final day of the championship.

It will be recalled that 365 players were listed for the 24 events in this year’s edition with the junior boys’ class recording the highest number of participants.