TheNewsGuru

Tag: Championship

  • Ajayi shines as West Brom go nine games unbeaten

    Ajayi shines as West Brom go nine games unbeaten

    Super Eagles defender Semi Ajayi played a key role as West Bromwich Albion extended their unbeaten streak to nine games in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday.

    West Brom got an impressive 2-0 win over hosts Queens Park Rangers (QPR) at Loftus Road Stadium in London.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the game was Ajayi’s ninth league appearance for the Baggies, having scored twice for the club.

    The versatile player has also played every minute of West Brom’s league games following his arrival from Rotherham United this summer.

    NAN also reports that QPR also paraded their Nigerian-born forward, Ebere Eze, in the game.

    Eze started the game and was replaced by another Nigerian-born player, Bright Osayi-Samuel, 20 minutes from time.

    Nathan Ferguson and Matheus Perreira scored both goals for Slaven Bilics’ men in the game.

    Victory for the Baggies meant that they moved to top spot ahead of Nottingham Forest who defeated Stoke City 3- 2 on Friday.

  • CHAMPIONSHIP: Sunderland suffer setback in fight for relegation

    CHAMPIONSHIP: Sunderland suffer setback in fight for relegation

    Sunderland suffered a setback in their fight against relegation with defeat by Sheffield Wednesday.

    Wednesday took the lead after a first half of few chances, Lucas Joao firing in from Atdhe Nuhiu’s header.

    But Sunderland responded immediately, George Honeyman heading Lynden Gooch’s cross in at the far post.

    Tom Lees restored the Owls’ lead, firing in Joey Pelupessy’s free-kick delivery from close range, before Nuhiu headed in to secure the three points.

    The Kosovo striker’s goal, his fifth in three games, ensured Sheffield Wednesday would move up to 16th in the table, 13 points clear of the relegation zone.

    Defeat for Sunderland kept them 23rd in the division, five points adrift of safety with only six games left this season.

    The Black Cats were made to pay for not taking advantage of a strong first-half performance, Donald Love firing their best chance of the opening 45 minutes over from just outside the box.

    Chris Coleman’s side, already without a number of players because of injuries and suspensions, suffered another blow in the second half when Bryan Oviedo was injured and taken off the pitch.

    They are now level on points with bottom side Burton, facing an increasingly difficult task to avoid dropping to the third tier of English football for the first time since 1987.

    BBC

  • NCC doles out N17m to winners of tennis championship

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given out N17 million to winners of its Tennis Cup 2017 competition.

    The Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said at the grand finale of the tournament in Lagos that the competition had given the commission satisfaction and fulfillment.

    TheNewsGuru reports that the tournament which started in July featured 12 teams.

    Team Civil Defence defeated Muller 4 – 0, to win the NCC’s Tennis Cup 2017 competition, hence, carting the star prize of N7million.

    Team Muller came second, and went home with N5 million, Team Offikwu won the third prize of N3 million, while Team Ndoma-Egba came fourth, winning N2 million cash prize.

    Danbatta represented by the Director, Research and Development, NCC, Mrs Iyabo Sholanke, said that the championship had been dubbed the greatest and biggest addition to Nigeria’s sports since 1960.

    “We are proud to have used this opportunity to engage a number of Nigerian youths in very fruitful and engaging enterprise with a bright future outlook.

    “We are even prouder to have taken quality tennis to different locations in the country and to see the players improving by the day, due to the regular competitions the league offers,’’ he said.

    He said that it was gratifying to note that some young Nigerians who were part of the tennis cup had got scholarships and sponsorships to tennis academies abroad.

    He said that they would further their studies and their professional tennis careers in those academies.

    “The NCC Tennis Cup is a team tennis competition that is open to all, including the very best male and female tennis players in Nigeria.

    “I am glad that the cream of the best and promising Nigerian male and female players are all participating in the league and that a good number of them are now ranked on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour.

    “These are some of our expectations and we hope that the players will take full advantage of this NCC Tennis League Cup to excel,’’ Danbatta said.

    He said that NCC’s major objective in promoting the competition was to contribute to the overall development of the nation through sports, particularly, tennis.

    According to him, tennis has the potential to engage, motivate, entertain and keep the youth physically fit and mentally focused.

    He said that above all, tennis created opportunities for the players to earn a decent living and a chance to be famous.

    TheNewsGuru also reports that the grand finale featured special tribute to the late Dr Alex Ekwueme, a former Vice-President of Nigeria and special awards to some players of the competition, as sponsored by MTN Nigeria.

    The corporate relations executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr Tobe Okigbo, said that the company’s involvement in the competition was in line the value addition and youth’s talent development agenda of MTN.

    “We like supporting value addition projects. In this case (NCC Tennis Cup competition), we saw that what NCC is doing and it makes a lot of sense to be part of it.

    “We saw it as an opportunity to support ambitious young Nigerians, especially, in developing their skills and talents,’’ Okigbo said.

    The 12 teams that participated are: Team Ofikwu, Team Ndoma-Egba, Team Goshen, Team CBN Fututos, Team Yetade and Team Tech-Vibe.

    Others are Team Civil Defence, Team Kolatari, Team Muller, Team Opti Web, Team VGC Lions and Team Qualifier.

     

  • Bayelsa wins Gov. Wike National Wrestling Championship

    Bayelsa wins Gov. Wike National Wrestling Championship

    Bayelsa has emerged the overall winner of the just concluded Gov. Wike National Wrestling Championship which was held in Port Harcourt.

    TheNewsGuru reports that the state contingent clinched 51 medals comprising 17 gold, 18 silver, and 16 bronze.

    Ondo came second with 13 gold, four silver, and five bronze medals while Delta came third with seven gold, nine silver, and nine bronze.

    Lagos came fourth with six gold, one silver, and three bronze.

    Ondo State coach, Purity Akuh said that he was impressed with his wrestlers’ performance, stressing there was room for improvement by his wards.

    “I’m happy with how they fared. We will go back to improve on their lapses and I believe next time we would perform better.

    “They are all open to corrections and always willing to learn,” he said.

    Twenty-two states and 13 clubs took part in the five-day competition which held at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Center with no fewer than 400 wrestlers taking part.