Nigeria dominates in 2018 Africa Schools Badminton Championship

Nigerian won 11 medals, consisting four gold, four silver and three bronze medals at the 2018 Africa Schools Badminton Championship hosted by Ghana.

The competition, first to be hosted in West Africa and marked the second International Badminton Championship to be hosted in the country this year, following a successful hosting of the J.E. Wilson Ghana International Badminton Championships.

The eight-day competition, at the Tema International School recorded Nigeria's Balarabe Umar Ahmad and Obanishola Sofiat from the Government Day Technical and Fiwasaye Girls Grammar respectively, won gold, while Bankole Timileyin and Taofiq Ganiyat Romoke from Government Day Technical and Fiwasaye Girls Grammar won silver in the same event.

In the men’s double event, the Nigerian team represented by Bankole Timileyin Bbatunde and Egbonyi Daniel Christopher from the Government Day Technical College grabbed gold, while Obanishola Sofiat and Christianah Obasami from Fiwasaye Girls Grammar School also won gold, in the women's double.

The Nigerians also won gold in the boys’ team event and girls team event but lost to Uganda and South Africa in the boys and girls individual events respectively.

At the end of the eight-nation tournament, Ghana's 25-man team only managed a bronze medal in the boys’ team event which was won by l T.I Ahanadiyya High School and thus qualifying them to the World Schools Championship.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Mr. Issac Asiamah, the Minister for Youth and Sports in a speech read on his behave by Mr. Ignatius Elletey said, the government was committed to the development and promotion and supporting the sustainable growth of Badminton in Africa, and especially in Ghana.

He said, such international tournaments hosted in the country, were good preparations for Ghana ahead of the 2023 All Africa Games to be hosted in the country for the first time.

Mr Yeboah Evans, President of the Badminton Association of Ghana (BAG), noted that the Association was proud to have hosted two successful international competition this year.

He however said, Ghana could only be proud of the performance of the team considering the fact that the sport was still developing.

He said more efforts would be put in at the grassroots level by engaging more athletes in national competitions to nurture them.