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Gboko City Chiefs Emerge Champions of 2023 Bullet Energy Basketball Invitational
Gboko City Chiefs on Friday defeated Mak Town Flyers basketball club to emerge champions of the 2023 Sam Oguche/Bullet Energy Drink Invitational Tournament at the Mo Arena in Abuja.
Both Gboko City Chiefs and Mark Town basketball club reached the final having defeated FCT Hard Rockers 87-100 and Warriors 313; 84-73, respectively in the semi-finals on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the five-day tournament, which dunked off on Monday, ended on Friday in Abuja.
The Jeff Verem-led team emerged champions after recording an impressive (90-77) at the end of the fourth quarter.
With the victory, Gboko City Chiefs smiled to the bank with a N1 million prize money, while Mark Town basketball club recieved a N500,000 runners up prize.
After faltering in the first quarter (19-22) to the runners up, Gboko City Chiefs never looked back, taking control of three other quarters (28-11, 19-21, 24-23) in the second, third and fourth quarters to claim the title.
Interestingly, the champions are one of the four teams that qualified for the finals of the 2023 Nigeria Basketball (NBBF) Final Four to be held in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
Haruna Friday won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award to pocket a N20,000 prize money, while Umar Garba emerged the competition’s top scorer with 22 points.
Speaking after the final, the organiser, Sam Ogwuche, said he was satisfied with the outcome of the championship.
He noted that the competition surpassed the expectations of basketball fans who trooped in their numbers to the Mo Arena.
“I feel very excited because it’s not easy planning a competition like this. For me the objective of the competition has been achieved because the winners are going to the NBBF Final Four.
“This serves like a preparatory competition for them, and of course I wish them all the luck going to Port Harcourt.
“As organiser we supported the winners with N1 million as prize and we will keep supporting the team and we believe that in the subsequent editions, the prize money would be jacked up.
“We are planning a competition also for the girls and that will come up anytime soon. The men’s competition will also be back in January,” he said. (NAN)
English and Italian football giants Manchester City, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Juventus will square up for pre-season friendlies in Hong Kong in August, the clubs announced yesterday.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, currently arm-wrestling Arsenal for the Premier League title, will take on Inter Milan on Saturday, August 1, spearheaded by their Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland.
The match will kick off the “Hong Kong Football Festival” at the city’s futuristic 50,000-seat Kai Tak stadium.
The gleaming arena opened a year ago, featuring a roof that can be closed and air-conditioning to combat the fierce summer heat and humidity in Hong Kong.
Chelsea will play Juventus on Wednesday August 5 to round off the mini-tournament.
Lagos State will host the second edition of the National School Volleyball Championships from April 21 to April 24 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
President of the Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF), Olabisi Joseph, said in a statement on Monday that schools from across the country had converged for the four-day tournament.
She said the competition meant for secondary schools is organised by the NSSF in collaboration with the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), with support from the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC).
Joseph said the annual tournament aims to develop volleyball in the school system and identify outstanding athletes who will represent Nigeria at the International School Sport Federation (ISF) events.
She expressed delight at the growing interest among schools nationwide and urged participants to be worthy ambassadors of their institutions.
“In Nigeria, we are blessed with an abundance of talent in the school system.
“Volleyball, being one of the popular sports in schools, has ignited healthy rivalry among students.
“Sports stimulates learning, so we are building a total child through events like this,” she said.
Joseph added that standout athletes from the Lagos championship would be shortlisted to compete at the ISF World School Volleyball Championship in China.
She described the event as a unique opportunity for young players to showcase their skills before global scouts.
“Teams from Lagos, Osun, Rivers, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Ogun, Taraba, Bauchi and other states are competing for honours, with NVBF technical officials on ground to scout for talent.”
The maiden edition of the National School Volleyball Championships was held in Abuja, where host teams won both the boys’ and girls’ categories.
Outstanding players from the FCT, Plateau and Kaduna states later represented Nigeria at the 2025 ISF World School Volleyball Championships in China.
The World School Volleyball Championship is scheduled to be held from July 1 to July 10 in China.
Guinea will face Nigeria’s Flamingos in the final qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The Guineans defeated Niger Republic 3-0 in the second leg of their qualifying fixture in Conakry on Saturday.
They won the contest 8-2 on aggregate, following their 5-2 triumph in the first leg last week.
The winner of the Flamingos versus Guinea clash will qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The Flamingos set up camp in Abuja for the clash with their fellow West Africans last week.
Newly appointed head coach, Akeem Busari invited 36 players to camp for the team’s preparation.
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