Nigeria will be the centre of attention in the African Badminton community, as Port-Harcourt, Rivers State is set to host the All Africa Senior Championships. The Championships is made up of two separate tournaments: the Mixed Team Event holding from 22nd – 25th April and the Individual Championship to hold from the 26th – 28th April 2019 at the Alfred Diete Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Already, 18 countries have registered for the showpiece event, which will see the best male and female Badminton players on the African continent compete for glory. These countries include; Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Congo, Congo DRC, Eritrea, Egypt Ghana and Ivory Coast. Other participating countries include; Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the host country, Nigeria.
The Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) has congratulated teams that have registered for their participation at the event and promises to stage the best All Africa Senior Championships the continent has ever seen.
“We are excited about the quality of teams that will be participating at the All Africa Senior Championships in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. These are teams with some of the most talented players on the continent. Africa’s number one male and female single players, Georges Paul and Kate Foo Kune, of Mauritius, will be participating at the Championship. Obviously the fans are in for perhaps the most competitive All Africa Senior Championships we have seen in a while,” Orbih stated.
On the country’s level of preparedness for the Championships, the BFN President promised that the country will be ready in time to host Africa. Orbih opines, “As part of the preparations for this competition, the BFN organized the 1st Rivers Governor’s National Badminton Championship in Port-Harcourt in December 2018. The National Championship provided us with an opportunity to test-run the facilities and infrastructure needed to host the All African Championship. We learnt a lot of lessons from the National Championship, which have proved very useful in our current preparations. The Rivers State Government has been very supportive in our preparations and with their continued support, we will be ready in time.”
Host countries typically have the difficult task of combining preparation for hosting events such as this and preparing their teams to successfully participate at the event. The BFN however does not envisage that challenge, noting that the Nigerian team is being prepared to successfully represent the country at the event. “The National Camp is currently open and the players have been working hard to ensure they successfully represent Nigeria at the Championships. Over the last couple of years, Nigerian players have climbed their way to the top of the African rankings and are primed to be the team to beat at the Championships,” noted Orbih.
The Rivers State Government has also stated the readiness of the State to successfully host the tournament. The Honourable Commissioner for Sports, Hon. Boma Iyaye noted that the expected level of participation shows that Rivers State is still one of the most important destinations for sports tourism in Nigeria.
“With the kind of infrastructure investments made by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike CON, we are not surprised to see the quality of countries interested in coming to the state to take part in the Championships. Rivers State is ready and we are sure this will be the best All Africa Senior Badminton Championships ever. This is the promise of the Rivers State Government to Africa and we are committed to keeping this promise.”
As part of the preparation for the publicity for the All Africa Senior Badminton Championships, a championship Mascot, which was designed by a resident of Port Harcourt, will be unveiled in Port Harcourt. The Mascot will be the fulcrum of all publicity activities in the run-up to the Championships.
