16th February, 2012
A team of 12 Nigerian athletes and four officials will depart for Ethiopia on 20 February to take part in the 2012 African Badminton Individual Championship and the Thomas and Ubber Cup Preliminary for Africa which will hold from 22-28 February.
The two competitions in which Nigeria is the African champion are two different championships which will be held in one venue at different dates. The tourneys are the qualifying tournaments for the 2012 Olympics in London.
The Thomas Cup is the Badminton version of the Africa Cup of Nations and the winner in Ethiopia will automatically become Africa’s representative in the Thomas Cup Championship that will be held in China in May, 2012.
Nigeria won the 2012 editions of the championships to become the defending champion in the two upcoming events.
Nigeria came top at the last Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique where she won 3 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze medals.
—Francis Achi/Abuja