14th July, 2012
Olaoluwa Fagbemi and Maria Ola-Williams on Saturday in Abuja won the men and women singles titles respectively at the 2012 FCT Closed Badminton Championships.
Fagbemi, the national number two, beat Olorunfemi Elewa in two straight sets in the final match.
At the end of the game, he said winning the competition was a plus to his career even though he admitted it was a tough game.
“It’s not that I’m a better player. It’s just that I programmed myself for the game because I watched his (Elewa’s) previous matches, capitalised on his weaknesses and worked on them,’’ the new champion said.
Ola-Williams, who is also the women’s national number two, equally beat Augustina Sunday 2-0, winning 21-16 21-16.
On her part, she said she felt great in winning the competition.
The women champion however called for the organisation of more competitions to enhance the sport’s growth.
“If we had more tournaments like this, we will improve, showcase our talents and put all our efforts to good use,’’ she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tournament, which had began on Thursday, featured 16 players in the men and women categories.
It also had eight teams in the mixed doubles and two teams in the men’s doubles.
The duo of Fagbemi and Ola-Williams won the mixed doubles competition by beating the pair of Elewa and Zainab Momoh 2-0.
Fagbemi and Paul Fagbemi also won the men’s doubles category by beating Ocholi Edicha and Ibrahim Adamu 2-1 in a three-set game.
NAN reports that the competition was organised by the Abuja Badminton Club in conjunction with the FCT Badminton Association.
Amb. Fidel Ayogu, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Uganda who was a guest at the finals, told newsmen after the matches that the standard of the competition was high and satisfactory.