By Leonard Okachie
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has expressed excitement over Abia Government’s huge investment in para-badminton.
Orbih spoke at the grand finale of the Fifth National Open Para-Badminton Championship held at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia.
He expressed delight that “Abia has set an unprecedented standard for the development of the game”.
He also said that he was satisfied with the quality of the organisation and participation at the competition, saying that the nation had never had it so good.
The championship, which took place between July 14 and July 17, drew para-athletes from different states of the federation.
The BFN president said that Gov. Alex Otti’s huge investment in para-badminton “is geared toward ensuring inclusivity not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa as a whole”.
He said that the governor had invested so much money, including the procurement of accessible bus for wheelchair users and special mats for wheelchair players, being the first of its kind in Africa”.
“As a federation, we are very happy with what has happened, in terms of organisation, quality of the games and others, and we hope that it will only get better.
“The world and African body, everybody is taking note of what Abia is doing for para-badminton,” Orbih said.
Meanwhile, the host state, Abia retained its number one spot, emerging the overall winner of the competition with five gold, five silver and seven bronze.
Plateau came second with four gold, one silver and three bronze, Ogun placed third with three gold and two bronze.
Kwara came fourth with three gold, while Imo occupied the fifth position with one gold, five silver and three bronze.
Others were Rivers, sixth position wit one gold, one silver and one bronze, followed by Kebbi with one gold and one silver.
Delta won one gold to place eighth, Akwa Ibom finished ninth with two silver, while Bayelsa went home with one silver and four bronze to finish 10th.
The rest were Lagos State in the 11th position with one silver and one bronze, Anambra placed 12th with one silver.
Taraba finished in the 13th position with one bronze, while Ebonyi occupied the bottom of the table, winning no medal.
The First Abia Para Badminton International Championship to be hosted by Abia is scheduled to hold from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5, followed by the All Africa Para Badminton Championship from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12, according to official statement.
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