All Africa Badminton Championship begins

The curtains were drawn, at the weekend, on the First Abia Para Badminton International Tournament in Umuahia, with Nigeria finishing in fourth position.

Among the champions at the tournament was Abia State’s Jeremiah Nnanna, who got a gold medal out of the three gold, four silver and nine bronze medals won by Nigeria at the historic event that featured 114 participants from 14 countries.

The tournament was hosted by the Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti.

Other Nigerian winners at the event were Eniola Bolaji, who won gold in the women’s singles SL3 by defeating Cameroon’s Danyele Mouafo, and Mary Nathan, who also won a gold medal by beating Brazil’s Juscileia Silva in women’s singles WH1.

Speaking while declaring the Para Badminton International Tournament closed, Otti, who immediately flagged off the All-African Para Badminton Championships at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia, approved the request to host the event in Abia next year.

He congratulated the participants while announcing cash awards to all 14 athletes who participated in the competition.

He said: “For us in Abia, our mantra is inclusion, and that is one of the reasons we offered to host you.”