The 2019 Nigeria Bankers Games entered its penultimate weekend on Sunday at the YabaTech, Sports Complex and the day witnessed three different events – Scrabble, football semifinals and athletics heats.
The scrabble event saw Union Bank win gold in the female category, while Ecobank claimed the silver and bronze medals. In the male category, UBA won the gold medal while participants of Sterling Bank and Ecobank claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.
The athletics events saw the heats of the 100, 200 and 400 metre races for both male and female categories. Last year’s medalists Sharon John-Akachi – Fidelity Bank, Taiwo Funke – Sterling Bank and Ayakure Kodoye – UBA all qualified for the 100 and 200 meter finals while in the male category, Okeowo Adebayo – Fidelity Bank and Chuks Giftson – Sterling Bank all qualified for the 100 and 200 meter finals.
The football event, which was in the semi-final stage served up two mouth-watering fixtures that had, fans literally on the edge of their seats. The first of the semi-final fixtures saw defending champions – UBA take on Union Bank. The match started off feisty as UBA were down to 10-men in the first fifteen minutes of the game. The UBA 10-men held out for a draw till the break and had time to recoup. The second half saw more attacking football from both teams but a late goal from Uche Akano was enough to seal victory for UBA and secure a place in the final.
The second match saw Fidelity Bank take on FCMB. FCMB dominated possession for most of the game only allowing Fidelity Bank a few chances. FCMB’S high press limited their opponents who had played free flowing attacking football most of the competition to a few chances. The match ended goalless and preceded to penalties were Fidelity Bank came out 4-3 victors.
