The duo of Abdul-Qudus Olawale and Olojoku Boluwatife Sufyan who represented Nigeria
at the just concluded World Youth Scrabble Championship in Sri Lanka have praised the Kwara State Government for footing their bill to the annual sporting showpiece of the mind game.
Team captain, Abdul-Qudus Olawale Aliu, told our correspondent that they are grateful for the opportunity to represent Nigeria and equally supported by the Kwara State Government.
“I know that the government has so many projects to carry out and they don’t have enough money but still, they supported our dream of representing Nigeria. We are really happy, and we hope to continue to make Kwara State and Nigeria proud,” Aliu said.
Out of the 136 players from 22 countries, Abdulqudus Olawale Aliu, a multiple National Youth Games gold medalist finished 23rd at the end of the World Youth Championship winning 14 games and dropping 10 just like
Olojoku Boluwatife Sufyan but he had a higher cumulative point than Olojoku Boluwatife Sufyan as the latter ended the competition in the 28th position.
Despite falling to make it to the podium, Olojoku Boluwatife Sufyan, an Indigene of Kwara State explained that the Championship helped them to learn a lot about the game and he believes that come 2025, they will fight for a podium finish.
“We want to thank our governor for supporting us, we pray Allah continues to bless his and we promise to do better in other international Championships,” the double gold medalist at the last National Youth Games in Asaba, Delta State stated.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), has described the outing of Team Nigeria at the World Youth Scrabble Championship as impressive and commendable.
The President of Nigeria Scrabble Federation, Engineer Toke Aka, said, these kids are the future of the game of words not only in Nigeria but the World.
“I can tell you that, these young boys and girls can take on any Masters category player without any form of fear, some of the players you saw at the World Youth Championship have actually beating some of us in the past,” Aka explained.
The NSF President also praised the Kwara State Government for supporting the Team despite the hash economic situation in the country.
It’s imperative to state the Kwara State Government has been developing the sporting sector of its economy in the last five years.
