We are set to rejoin the top nations in badminton, says Orbih

Second International Badminton Classics Fall-Out

Chairman of the Lagos State Badminton Association (LSBA), Francis Orbih, says Nigeria would soon regain its position among the top badminton playing nations of the world going by the performance of its athletes at the just concluded Lagos classics.

Orbih, who said the classics was just the starting point for badminton in Nigeria, was thrilled by the competitive spirit exhibited by Nigerian players against some of the best stars of the world.

He said: “It has been a wonderful tournament both in organisation and in terms of results. Above all, the number of countries in attendance makes it even more successful.

“Last year, we had 16 but we have 26 countries, including Nigeria in attendance this year.

‘’This is the biggest Badminton tournament ever held in Africa. What we need now is corporate backing so that we can encourage the likes of Jinkam to greater heights.’’

Orbih was not perturbed by the inability of Nigerian players to win any of the five events at the Classics held at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos. Rather, he believed that with more games against the stars from India, Czech Republic, Poland and Turkey, among others, the country would get to the championship winning level.

In the final of the men’s event, India’s Sai Praneeth, seeded number one at the competition, defeated Poland’s Adrian Dzioiko with 21-13, 21-11 points.

Czech Republic’s Kristina Gavnholt outshone Turkey’s Ozge Bayrak, seeded number seven, 24-21, 18-21, 21-5 to take the women’s title.

The pair of Poland’s Przemyalaw and Adam Cwalina defeated India’s Manu Attry and Sumeeth Reddy 2-0 in the men’s doubles.