Sports
South-South Male, Female Team Emerge Champions Of 4th Edition Of PwC/NCF U-17 Tourney
…As NFC applauds PwC’s contribution to the Cricket grow
Joel Ajayi
The Male and Female teams from the South-South region on Sunday in Abuja for the third consecutive time emerged winner of 2023 edition of PwC/NCF Under-17 Cricket National Championships in Abuja.
The tournament, in its fourth edition, has seen the two sides dominate the competition since inception.
South Male and Female team showed sheer dominance in the competition, winning all games and eventually claiming the title.
It’s the fourth consecutive win for the ladies and the third for the male team.
In the game played on Sunday at the Cricket Pitch inside Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Package B in Abuja, the girls game saw the defending champions South/South pitched against South East. South East won the toss and opted to field.
The bowling effort of Faith Okpara 3/16 was not enough to limit the defending champions as they raced to 133/5 in 20 overs.
Player of Match Piety Lucky 49(36) and teammate Peculiar Agboya 30(20) did the job for the South South zone as they finished the innings on a high note.
In reply, South East managed to reach 67 runs/10 in 17.4 overs as Lucky earned a 4-wicket haul for 10 in 3.4 overs. South South won by 64 runs.
For Male category, South South won by 71 runs. The men’s game began with South South winning the toss and electing to bat against North West.
Abraham Oaikena 27 (33) and Godswill Effiong 28(29) did the most for the defending champions as they scored 128 all out in 24 overs.
To win, North West needed to score 129 runs but the likes of Unity Ogbide 3/16 and Effiong’s 5/6 was instrumental to restricting the Northern side to 56/10 in 21.4 overs.
Earlier, in the third place battle, South West defeated South East by 17 runs in the boys event.
Speaking shortly after the 2023 successful event, President of Cricket Federation Uyi Akpata who was represented by his Vice President Wale Obalola revealed that the Price hooper Cooper sponsorship is no doubt giving milage to Development of Cricket Federation in the country.
Speaking also, at the end of the game, Theophilus Ibodeme, coach of South South lauded the team’s performance.
“I am very happy with the players and the performance. It should our hard-work has paid off and hopefully we will keep improving on this feat.”
In others award category, for Girls, Aisha Aliyu from North East emerged Best Behaved, while Precious Simon from North West was the Best Fielder and Kehinde Amusan emerged Best Fielder from South West.
The Best Batter was presented to Chinemerem Ihezuo of South East and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) was presented to Piety Lucky of South South.
The Boys event saw Abdullahi Ismail of North West go home as the Best Behaved while Daniel Joseph of South West was Best Fielder.
The Best Batter was presented to South West’s Wale Odukoya while South South’s Joseph Omonkhobhio is the Best Bowler and the MVP award to Kareem Gafar from South West.
The tournament which began on Thursday, came to end on Sunday.
Sports
Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney
Joel Ajayi
The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.
Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.
In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.
The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.
In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.
At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.
According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.
He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.
“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.
Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.
He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.
The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.
He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.
“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.
Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.
The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.
According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.
The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.
It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.
The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.
He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.
“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.
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