Lagos Emerges Champions at Maiden School Racket Games
With four gold, two silver and three bronze medals, host, Lagos State emerged the overall champion of the maiden National Schools Racket Games which ended at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos over the weekend
13 states across the country took part in the five-day championships organised by the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) in partnership with the Nigeria Badminton Federation (NBF) and Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF).
The event involved table tennis and badminton events with Ondo finishing second with four gold medals while Kwara came third with three gold and six bronze medals.
The Akanbi sisters of Lagos were the cynosure of all eyes as the pair dominated most of the events in singles and doubles.
President of NSSF, Olabisi Joseph expressed satisfaction with the successful completion of the competition and promised that NSSF will be looking forward to more states participating in the event during the second edition billed for Lagos next year.
“We in NSSF are grateful to God that the event has successfully ended in this maiden edition of the National Schools’ Racket Games without any major eventuality.
“As you can see, a lot of talented stars in the badminton and table tennis events were discovered here and it is good we are going to see that these ones are given encouragement to actualize their dreams in their chosen fields.
“Kudos must go to all the kids and their teachers for a successful event. Special thanks also goes to the Lagos State Sports Commission, alongside the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation and the Badminton Federation of Nigeria for their technical support.
Nkana Mbora who represented the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, hailed the quality of competition, officiating and skills exhibited by the budding stars from schools. She also charged the students who took part in the competition to put all their experiences into use to help the country achieve success in sports.
