Sports
Team Nigeria Shifts Attention To Athletics, As Super Falcons, Quadri, others Exit Paris 2024 Empty Handed
Joel Ajayi
The Super Falcons completed a hat trick of losses at the Paris 2024 Olympics after losing 3-1 to their Japanese counterpart on Wednesday to exit the game with no points.
Before Falcon’s exit , Aruna Quadri, Fatimah Bello, Olajide Omotayo, and Edem Offiong have all been eliminated from the Table Tennis event while Adam Olaore also suffered first-round elimination in the boxing event.
Also, the Nigeria’s captain and African Champion, Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori suffered a disappointing defeat in his second Group game against China’s Li Shi Feng in the Men’s Singles Badminton event at the Paris Olympics.
This loss marks Opeyori’s second defeat at Paris 2024, ending his Olympic journey in the first round.
He joins the Super Falcons, who lost 1-3 to Japan in the women’s football event earlier on Wednesday, as the 7th Nigerian athlete to be eliminated from the games
Football follows the exit route with no media to show, a path charted by Table Tennis and Boxing as none of the athletes made it past the first round.
All attention for medals will now shift to Athletics with the event starting on Thursday August 1st in Paris
A total of 35 Athletes will be competing for honours in their different track and field events.
Expectations are high with the exploits of Tobi Amusan; winning the Gold medal in the 110 meters hurdles at the last World Championship setting a world record in the event.
A podium finish is at least expected as Tobi Amusan is a hot prospect for the gold medal.
Ese Brumen is another athlete’s Nigerians will be backing her for a podium finish in the long jump, the event that gave Nigeria her first ever Gold medal at the Olympics courtesy of the Chioma Ajunwa effort at the Atlanta 96 Olympics.
Other events could spring surprises while Nigerians are anxious to see how the relays will go, though watchers are optimistic that Nigeria could win a medal in the relays.
Recall the 4×4 Relay gave Nigeria the second ever Gold medal in Athletics at the Sydney 2000 in which the American team were stripped off the gold for doping.
How many medals will Athletics return for Team Nigeria, the coming days will provide a definite answer
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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