Team Delta Swimming Coach,Mr Aigbe Monday, has boasted that his primary target is to retain their top swimming position at the 18th National Sports Festival.
Aigbe admitted that there are stiff competitions from other states, he pointed out that Delta swimmers are determined to win medals at the festival with particular emphasis on retaining their swimming title.
?We are here to retain our swimming position. Yes, other states will be out to challenge us but that will give us extra motivation to win?, he said.
Delta State is currently top on the overall medals table as the Eko 2012 enters day eight today.
OGUN BOXING COACH UNHAPPY WITH MATERIALS
Technical adviser of Ogun state boxing team, Aremu Ajani has expressed dismay over what he described as low quality of boxing materials provided by the host at the on-going Eko 2012 Games.
The former national boxer said officials of boxing accepted boxing gloves and head guides provided by the host state to avoid confusion.
??Any person that knows about the game of boxing will tell you that these boxing gloves and head guides provided for this competition are not the ideal quality.
?They are supposed to be for training. The AIBA recommended boxing gloves and head guides for competitions are red and blue but we just decided to let the sleeping dog lie because we do not want any thing that will bring bad name to this state.
?This is not the first time we are going to National Sports Festivals. No doubt that those who bought these materials are not professionals, they should have allowed those who know the game to purchase the material?, coach Aremu said.
He hinted that Ogun state boxers are doing their best, adding that their target is to win as many as eight medals in boxing.
?We are doing our very best. We came into this competition with a total of 20 boxers, 10 male, 10 female.
?And out of this numbers, I?m very sure that 10 of them will win medals for us. And you know also that we have instant package for any athlete that wins medal.
YOLA WARNS CHEATS
The secretary of the main organizing committee of the 18th national sports festival Alhaji Abba Yola has warned of dire consequences for states who indulge in any form of cheating by flouting the rules of the festival.
Yola,s warning is coming on the heels of the discovery that Anambra state had fielded a foreign athlete who has being striped of his medal.'We are aware of some challenges which are not as complex as experienced in Rivers, but we are gradually coming out of these problems. However, any state found to have broken the rules of the festival will be heavily sanctioned. Already, one athlete from Anambra was stripped of his medal because he was found to be ineligible.
Ondo State hockey team was sanctioned for breaking the rules of the game. The medal won in Judo by Lagos state is hanging pending the outcome of the protest lodged against them by Niger state. States must be sincere in the identification of athletes.
The MOC cannot be sure of the identities of all the athletes except the states do their home work.He commended the Deputy Governor of Lagos state Princess Adejoke Orelope- Adefulire for her comittment to ensuring a hitch free event..
CYCLING HAS GIVEN ME FAME
Durogbade Adejoke Excited Over Double Gold Medal Feat Gold medalist Durogbade Adejoke is the toast of Team Oyo and the Oyo State as a whole after her golden feat in Cycling event of the ongoing National Sports Festival holding in Lagos.
Adejoke won 2 gold medals and a silver in 200 metres, 1500 metres and 500 meters respectively.
The 200 level student of Sports and Recreation Management SRM from Leeds City University, Ibadan, Adejoke described her cycling feat as an act of God and will be forever grateful to God and Mr. Adewale Gbadebo who drafted her from football to cycling.
?I was a footballer and my goal then was to make something for myself in the game. But on the eve of the last Sports Festival in Port-Harcourt, my chairman then, Mr. Adewale Gbadebo, asked me if I can ride a bicycle which I answered in the affirmative. So, he asked me to join the cycling team because there are few women in the game then."
?I started and I thank God I won a silver medal at the City Garden games. I was rewarded with the sum of? N300,000 by the governor Ajumobi and immediately I decided to concentrate on the sport. I thank God that He has rewarded my hard work with 2 gold medals and a silver medal.
?I registered for four events, winning three medals and I hope to complete the full sweep of medals with another one in the team event,? she said.
Adejoke was born in Ilesa and she started a playing career as a normal street child before ending up with Nito Queens of Ibadan from where she changed to cycling.
When asked whether she will go back to football in the future, she categorically says no.
?I am not going back to football because since I have been playing football, I have not achieved as much as I do in cycling. So, my aim now is to concentrate more on the game and make a living out of it,? she promised.
OKARO ASSURES OF PROMPT DECISION ON PROTESTS
All outstanding protests will be promptly attended to so as not to affect the overall medals standing
According to the chairman of the games general services General Emmanuel okaro, we have received alot of protests and we are attending to them promptly so that it does not affect the overall table.
Also, we have resolved to update the medals table twice daily to forestall any conffusion. on security, we are very sorry for the way some soldiers have misbehaved, but it would not happen again.
I already spoke with the officer in charge and he gave me his word that they will be called to order.
NBF PICK ANAMBRA BOXER
Nigeria Boxing Federation, NBF has picked Team Anambra boxer, Sebastine Uche despite the pugilist losing out to his Team Ondo counterpart in the on-going 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos.
Uche who fought in the 67kg for men, was selected for what the NBF officials described as his impressive boxing skills.
An obviously elated Uche told Complete Sports that his only regret was losing the fight to his Ondo opponent as well as not having quality equipment to train with in Anambra prior to Eko 2012 Games.
?This is my first time of fighting in such a competition like the National Sports Festival?, Uche said.
??I?m happy with my performance because I did not train enough coming to the festival but then it was sad to lose to my opponent?.
?My dream is to become a professional boxer. I have always wanted to be a boxer and thank God that I have the opportunity now. All I want to ask for is support from our state government.
?I promise that with the opportunity of being part of the national boxing team, I will make Nigeria proud?, he said.
Meanwhile, head coach of Team Anambra boxing team, Innocent Nwokocha has disclosed that six of his boxers have reached the quarter final stage of the boxing event, saying that has shot them to the medal spot of the event.
NFF SHIFTS SEMI FINAL MATCHES TO AGEGE STADIUM
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has shifted all the semi-final matches of the football event to Agege Stadium.
According to Olusola Ogunnowo a member of the management staff of the federation, all participating teams in the ongoing festival football event should note that the male football semi-final matches earlier scheduled to hold at Onikan Stadium has been moved to Agege Stadium.
The venues and facilities committee of the on-going 18th National Sports Festival has been castigated over the poor state of Onikan Stadium, Lagos, one of the venues of the football event of the festival.
According to an official of one of the states participating in the football event and who did not want is name in print, Onikan stadium surface is not good at all for the game of football.
?This is not a football pitch at all- but maybe a horse racing arena. How are we expecting the players to be at their best playing on this kind of pitch.
?I learnt that about N1m is used to re-grass this pitch and if that is true, then the person in charge should be asked questions,? he said.
?Most times, we complain about the quality of play by the players, but how can you expect them to give their best on this kind of pitch? This is not good for a state like Lagos with the best serving governor Babatunde Fashola?, he said.
A football fan Akinola Bamidele said that the stadium is even worse than the way it was before the so-called renovation work commenced ahead of the festival.
NSF BOSS EXPLAINS DELAY IN SWIMMING START
Swimming event finally got underway yesterday at the Swimming Pool of the Teslim Balogun Stadium after the event suffered several postponements.
President of the Nigeria Swimming Federation, Babatunde Fatayi Williams explained to Complete Sports why the event started behind schedule.
Williams stated that the board of the NSF had to take the decision to shift the commencement of the event till Monday (yesterday) when it was discovered that there was excess chlorine in the water.
Williams further explained that when water was filled in the pool from the mains and from tankers, it was discovered that the water contained much iron and as a result of that, excess chlorine was poured in the water to neutralize the iron content of the water.
?But unfortunately the chlorine was discovered to have been too much and in order to correct it we had to delay the commencement of the event?, he added.
RESULTS
Volleyball
Quarter-Final
?Men
Lagos 3-0 Niger
Rivers 3-0 Gombe
Imo 3-1 Bayelsa
Ondo 3-2 Kano
Semi-Final Pairings
Lagos vs River
Imo vs Ondo
Women
Lagos 3-0 Adamawa
Delta 3-0 Ogun
Gombe 3-1 Imo
River 3-0 Benue
Semi-Final Pairings:
Lagos vs Delta
Rivers vs Gombe
TODAY'S GAMES
Male Category
Rivers 68--33 Zamfara.
Bayelsa 55---46 Oyo
Gombe 58---48 Yobe.
TOMORROW
Male
Bayelsa vs Kaduna
Yobe vs Zamfara
Rivers vs Oyo
VOLLEYBALL TEAM RIVERS COACH WANTS TO SHOCK LAGOS
Rivers Volleyball coach, O?Harry has boasted he will shock their Team Lagos counterpart as the event enters the semi final stage today.
O?Harry whose team eliminated their Gombe counterparts in the quarter finals on Monday to set up a semi final confrontation with Lagos boasted he won?t wait for the clash with the host state.
"I am happy that my pledge to the people of Rivers State of the two gold medals in Volleyball is still feasible.
?Our two teams (male and female) have qualified for the semi-finals. But it is the clash against Lagos that I can't wait for because I want to humble them before their fans?, he boasted.
The sweat merchant said after bagging gold in the female category at the Port Harcourt Games last year, he won't go for less this year.
Source: http://www.completesportsnigeria.com/blog/2012/12/eko-2012-team-delta-coach-wants-to-retain-swimming-top-spot
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