By Francis Ajuonuma
President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, says the ongoing 7th Lagos International Badminton Classics offers a great opportunity for Nigerian players to compete against some of the best players in the world.
Speaking with ThisNigeria on Thursday 29th of August at the Multi-purpose Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, venue of the Classics, Orbih, said if the competition ls held outside the country a lot of Nigerian players would not have participated in it, thereby losing scoring points in the world rankings.
He was however impressed with the turnout of players in the week long Classics, while rating the standard very high and commended Nigerian players for their encouraging performance against some of the best badminton players in the world.
“The Classics, well, I’ll say It has lived up to expectation and up to a limit. It’s an international challenge, the very first international challenge in Africa and today we have three others. So, is as big as they come and the caliber of the players that have come for it
“Last year we had more than 20 countries, because it was an Olympic qualifier. This year because there is no Olympics, quite a number still came because they want to increase their world ranking and possibly improve. So, that’s why we’ve less than 20 countries. But, even at that it’s been very competitive and I think it’s a good thing.
“For us, the major advantage for Nigeria is the opportunity of a lot more of our players who ordinarily wouldn’t have been able to travel out to play internationally would now have international tournament brought to them. They now have the opportunity to play with top ranked players, play the game at the highest level. So, for us that exposure is key and that the advantage we want to keep having.
On the chances of Nigerian players in the Classics and he expects in the final, Orbih added: “Well, I think we stand a very good chance. At least, Aanuoluwapo Opeyori, our number one player is in the quarterfinals now. We also have some players in the men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and even mixed doubles. We’re expecting that they go very far. But like I said, the men’s doubles is only the most competitive. We’ve over 22 players from India that have come for this competition, we’ve players from USA, Germany, Canada, UAE and others, so, is a very competitive Classics. But I can tell you that we’ve a very good hope that our players will go very far.
“I expect a very competitive, very good games and high quality games but at this point I can’t tell you who will be in the final. By tomorrow things will begin to get clearer and we’ll know who and who is going. So, we’re looking forward to a very good final and closing ceremony.”
