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When the new Adidas
World Cup ball was unveiled at the World Cup draws on December 4 2009
in South Africa, there was a lot of excitement about the technological
innovations that had gone into its production and how it promises to be
a good grip for goalkeepers.

“According to the
rigorous FIFA specification range for footballs, we have created a ball
that is small and heavy allowing for maximum accuracy, perfect grip and
exceptionally stable flight,” Thomas Van Schaik, the Adidas Head of
Global Public Relations, had said with pride after the ball was
unveiled.

But Jabulani, the
ball’s name which means “to celebrate” or “be happy” in Zulu Language,
is leaving World Cup-bound goalies lamenting in frustration following
their nightmarish experience with the round object as preparations for
the 32 countries hit final stages with the kick off in Johannesburg
barely five days to go.

Spain captain and
number one goalkeeper, Ike Casillas disagreed with adidas’ claims as he
described the South Africa 2010 official ball as rather suited for a
beach football good enough probably on the Copacabana sand in Rio de
Janeiro.

“It’s sad that a
competition as important as a World Cup has an element as vital as the
ball with such abysmal characteristics”, Casillas said after his side
defeated Saudi Arabia 3-2 in pre- World Cup friendly last week.

Italy’s Gianluigi
Buffon has also expressed disappointment over the make-up of the World
Cup ball just as Brazil’s Julio Cesar, who gave a more disparaging
assessment after claiming Jabulani is more of an item from the “grocery
store”.

“The new model is
absolutely inadequate and I believe it is shameful to play such an
important competition, where so many champions are taking part, with a
ball like that,” said Buffon, who won the 2006 World Cup with his
country, on his personal website.

England young
goalkeeper Joe Hart also revealed he has had problems handling Jabulani
as he voiced his concern over the speed at which the ball moves in the
air.

“They’re doing
anything but staying in my gloves,” Hart told the media during the
week. “It’s hard work with them, but good fun. It makes the game
exciting and I think that’s what they are trying to do with it.”

It is not
surprising that the barrage of criticisms against the ball is coming
now taking into consideration the fact that this is perhaps the longest
possible spell the players have to train with the ball since the end of
the club football season across the world.

Nigeria’s keepers may cope

Super Eagles
goalies led by Vincent Enyeama will also have something to worry about
with Jabulani but may manage. The Hapoel Tel Aviv keeper and his
counterpart Austin Ejide have already given a promising impression on
how they hope to cope with the World Cup ball with their performance
against Colombia and Saudi Arabia respectively.

The powerful flight
of the ball was absolutely unstoppable for Enyeama for Colombia’s lead
in the 1-1 draw at Milton Keynes last weekend but he did well to stop
another ferocious effort and he also handled the opponent’s crosses
well throughout the game. His performance coupled with Ejide’s good
showing in the first friendly against the Saudis may have thrown up an
interesting fight for the top spot.

Argentina threat

An explosive
attacking contingent being paraded by our first group opponents,
Argentina, our goalkeepers will be facing the real Jabulani test on
June 12 at the 62,000-seater Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. The
quintet of Lionel Messi, Diego Milito, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and
Gonzalo Higuain netted an astonishing total of 153 goals among them in
club football last season; add another 18 from Angel Di Maria and you
can expect these guys will like to wine and dine with Jabulani- the
goalkeepers’ nightmare.

June 12 is a
notable day in Nigeria’s history – the day we had our fairest election
till date – and it will be significant if Lars Lagerback and his squad
get a result against the South Americans on the day. The importance of
a result in the first game cannot be over-flogged and it is hoped that
Enyeama, who is expected to retain his number one spot will be good
enough to conquer the worrying Jabulani by keeping a clean sheet. But
the Eagles defence certainly has a huge role to play in the fight
against the new Adidas phenomenon.

The 11 colours that are present on the
Jabulani pay tribute to both football and the country in which Africa’s
first-ever FIFA World Cup will be held.

They represent a colour for each team
player, every official South African language and for each of the 11
South African communities that will welcome the world next year.

The design celebrates two of the most
important facets of the South African nation – diversity and harmony –
as it is these principles that make it such a colourful and welcoming
nation.

Editor’s note: This article was completed before John Mikel Obi withdrew from the Super Eagles’ team to the World Cup.

No Nigerian player
has had the privilege of featuring at all three male exclusive FIFA
tournaments – the World Cup, the U-20 World Cup, as well as the U-17
World Cup.

Well, all that is
about to change in the days ahead as three Super Eagles players look
set to join an elite group of players who have featured at these three
tournaments.

They are the team’s
iconic midfielder, John Obi Mikel; versatile forward, Chinedu Obasi;
and upcoming midfielder, Lukman Haruna, who will be the youngest player
in the Nigerian team at the World Cup in South Africa.

For Mikel and his
close buddy, Obasi, their journey to this exclusive club began in 2003
at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Finland, where the Golden Eaglets failed
to make it past the first round. Two years later, the location shifted
from chilly Scandinavia to windy but clement Holland, where they
impressed, along with the rest of the Flying Eagles, on the way to a
second place finish at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, with Mikel emerging as
the tournament’s second best player behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

Haruna’s journey to
football stardom began two years later at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup
in South Korea, where he captained the Golden Eaglets to their third
world title, at the expense of Spain. The Monaco midfielder, along with
the rest of the Nigerian team, couldn’t however, go beyond the second
round at last year’s U-20 World Cup in Egypt. But he will be hoping for
something better in South Africa as he gets set to do what no other
skipper of any of the country’s other victorious Golden Eaglets sides –
1985 captain, Nduka Ugbade and Wilson Oruma of the class of 1993 – were
able to do.

So close for Ugbade

Ugbade, who
featured at the maiden U-17 tournament in China in 1985, as well as two
U-20 tournaments in 1987 and 1989, came close to achieving this feat
before missing out on the 1994 World Cup in the United States, while
the likes of Oruma, Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, Karibe Ojigwe,
Victor Ikpeba, Benedict Akwuegbu, James Obiorah, and Femi Opabunmi
appeared at all the tournaments, except for the U-20 World Cup.

Ugbade’s experience
still leaves a sore taste in the mouth of the former Real Madrid youth
player as he was quite certain of going to the 1994 World Cup; after
all, he had appeared in virtually all of the Super Eagles’ qualifying
matches and even got to play at that year’s African Nations Cup. But he
was dropped by the team’s handler, Clemens Westerhof, and never got to
play at the World Cup with the record he so desperately craved, going
to Russia’s Yuri Nikiforov and Mike Burns of the USA.

Ugbade wonders who among the trio will get to feature in the opening match against Argentina on June 12.

“I am really happy
that after all these years, some players now have the chance to achieve
what I came so close to achieving in 1994,” Ugbade told NEXTSports.

“All I’m waiting for now is to find out who among them will be the first to play in South Africa.”

It is now a race
among the trio to see who would end up becoming the first Nigerian to
complete the World Cup cycle when the Super Eagles file out against
Argentina at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 12. Except Lars
Lagerback decides to field all three players against the South
Americans.

They won’t,
however, be the first Africans to reach this historic milestone as that
honour already belongs to the Ghanaian pair of Stephen Appiah and
Michael Essien, following their appearances at the Germany 2006 World
Cup.

Exactly a year and
a day after Robin Soderling of Sweden ended Rafael Nadal’s exceptional
run at Roland Garros, he caused another major upset by beating
defending champion and world number one, Roger Federer in the
quarter-final of the French Open.

From the moment I
saw the line up for the quarter-finals, I knew Federer was in trouble
even though the Swede had not won a match in 12 attempts against the
Swiss superstar, including the final of last year’s French open.

Sweet revenge

That record
doesn’t count much now because Soderling got his sweetest and most
satisfying revenge when it mattered the most. His victory not only ends
Federer’s campaign at the French open, but ended his amazing record of
23 consecutive semi-final appearances at grand slams. Also if Rafa goes
on to win the title; he takes over from Roger as world no 1, which
delays the Fed Express equalling and breaking Pete Sampras record of
286 weeks as no 1 player in the world. This is what you call “La
revanche dous” in French and “sweet revenge” in English.

The heavy
conditions on the day suited Soderling’s game; his confidence was sky
high and evident in his ground strokes and serves. He played so well
that I remember a Nadal fan saying, “I shudder to think what will
happen to Rafa if Soderling meets him in that form”.

The victory over
Roger makes the Swede the first man to beat a defending champion at
Roland Garros in back-to-back years since Mats Wilander in 1984 and ‘85
and the second man to beat Roger and Rafa in the same tournament.

As for Federer, is this the beginning of the end? This has been an annoying question in the last two years.

Tennis fans have
heard comments like, his time is over; he has peaked, he has won his
tournament, the young guys are coming, etc. Yet, since he lost the
Wimbledon final to Nadal in 2008, he has made every final in Grand
Slam, excluding this French Open. He’s won four Grand Slams since then,
yet people still suggest he’s done. Is he the player that once owned
everyone in 2003-2007?

No, but he is still
one of the 3 favourites to win every slam he enters. Clearly, one of
the most impressive streaks in the history of sports has ended but we
know he doesn’t let those things stay with him for long. He’s a great
adapter and a great adjuster. He could go on to win Wimbledon and the
US open, which are his favourite surfaces this summer, and even if he
does lose earlier than expected again, it certainly wouldn’t be a
shame, would it?

And like he said,
he “it was a great run, and I have the quarter-final streak going”. The
guy wins on every surface; he has sixteen Grand Slam titles, 23
straight semi-final appearances, over 280 weeks at number one, and has
broken pretty much every record. A true ambassador of the sport indeed.
What more could he do? I guess winning all four slams in one calendar
year is the only thing missing, but you can’t have it all, can you?

End of dominance

There’s no doubt
that Roger’s days of utter dominance are over and he’s more prone to
losing now, but to suggest or question whether he’s declining or
‘finished’ as some people have, is terrible. Andy Murray lost in the
3rd round this year; does that mean he’s ‘done’?

As for me, win or lose and even if he never wins one more title, I remain a Federer fan till I die.

The French open for
me ended after both Wimbledon defending champions exit. Serena
William’s loss to Aussie Samantha Stosur was particularly upsetting.
Stosur served for the match in the second set, but as we have often
seen it with Serena, she just refused to back-off. After fighting back
and even getting a match point, she just couldn’t close out the match.
Good for her, she’s had a great tournament and deserved a place in the
final. Not to take anything from Stosur’s game, I still think that
women’s tennis is on the decline and not as exciting as it used to be.
God help us if Venus and Serena decide to retire at this “down time”.

Interestingly, a year ago, Stosur met Schiavone in a first-round match at Roland Garros.

Stosur was the last
seed and Schiavone is unseeded. Amazing how much can happen in a year.
It’s the first time since the 2004 French Open that both finalists made
their Grand Slam finals debut.

We have a new female champion at Roland Garros this year, and hopefully, there will be a new men’s champion.

Super Eagles forward Obafemi Martins says he is ready to sink and swim with the squad in South Africa.

The Wolfsburg FC of
Germany striker spoke against the background of reports in the media
indicating that he was lukewarm in his attitude during training.

An angry coach?

On Friday, some
sections of the Nigerian media quoting an unnamed team official, said
the former Newcastle hit man was not showing enough seriousness during
training session, a development that is seriously infuriating Eagles
coach, Lars Lagerback.

The quoted official
noted that such was Lagerback’s anger at Martins’ antics that he
considered dropping him from the squad but was held back from doing so
owing to the shin injury, which ruled out Everton striker, Victor
Anichebe.

“Martins would have
been dropped for Anichebe because Lagerback complained about his
attitude. Other pulled their weight in training but the Wolfsburg
striker was not bothered,” the official said.

But Martins says
all this is hogwash. He stated that being quite happy to be in the
squad, he is ready to fight for a starting shirt in the line-up when
Nigeria squares up against Argentina on June 12.

Giving all

“My issues as always are about performances on the pitch and not in the newspapers,” Martins said on Friday.

“The coach was
equally shocked as myself to hear all these things being said about me.
It’s sad that when we have important preparation towards a big
tournament like the World Cup some people would go about talking
negatives about the team or players. As long as the team is doing what
we could or should do then I’m happy, and I think that’s the same for
most players.”

The former Inter
striker who has chalked up 16 goals in 31 matches for Nigeria says he
is not fazed by this development but will throw his whole being into
ensuring that Nigeria excels at the mundial.

“Like many of the
players in this present squad, this is my first World Cup and we are
all fighting to make a great impact collectively,” he explained. “No
one is guaranteed a starting place, past performance counts for nothing
and so therefore I want to make sure I give my all every time.”

He added that whoever was behind the reports clearly missed the
mark. “Whoever is speculating or accusing me of lacking the heart
certainly doesn’t know me.” he said. “This is the World Cup and no one
brings their B-game and I am ready to fight like everyone else to make
the country proud.”

Does sex affect a
footballer’s performance? This is, perhaps, the oldest and most
fundamental question, not just in football, but across the whole
spectrum of sports in general.

The Ancient Greeks,
in the build up to the Olympics, were of the opinion that sex sapped
energy. That is, it lowered testosterone, the hormone of both sexual
desire and aggression.

England coach,
Fabio Capello, obviously belongs to this school of thought as he has
ordered his players not to indulge in sex throughout the duration of
the World Cup in South Africa.

But not all teams heading to South Africa are facing a sex ban.

Fun-loving Argentines

Speaking last week
in a radio programme in Argentina, the team doctor of the former world
champions, Donato Vallani, said the players can have sex with their
regular partners during the tournament.

“The players can
have sex with their wives and girlfriends during the World Cup. Players
are not Martians,” said Vallani on Radio Del Plata.

“But,” he added,
“it should not be at 2 a.m. with champagne and Havana cigars. Sex is a
normal part of social life and is not a problem. The disadvantages are
when it is with someone who is not a stable partner or when the player
should be resting.”

The doctor further noted that “the action should not reverberate in the legs of the players.”

This view of the
Argentine doctor is similar to the order handed down to the Croatian
team by their doctor, Zoran Bahtijarevic, six years ago, at the
European Championships in Portugal, that their love-making should “not
involve any excessive sex.”

A touch of samba

Brazil coach,
Carlos Dunga, also has no problem with his players’ sex life, but was
quick to add that the players would only be allowed to indulge in the
act on their off days.

Speaking recently to the Brazilian media, Dunga, who captained Brazil to the world title in 1994, said:

“Not everybody
likes sex, drinking wine or ice-cream,” before adding, “but on their
off days, everyone is allowed to do what they want.”

Capello, however,
begs to differ, as he will not permit any hanky-panky from his players
at the World Cup. According to the English newspaper, the Daily Star,
the 63-year-old former AC Milan, Juventus, and Real Madrid coach has
ordered his players to stay away from sex for the duration of the
tournament to ensure they are bursting with energy this time around.

Conservative Capello

Capello obviously
still has fresh in his head the antics of the English team from the
last World Cup tournament, where they became more famous for their
off-the-field activities, before reaching the decision that has
naturally not been received in good faith by the wives and girlfriends
of the players.

England have not
won the World Cup since 1966, and have failed to make it past the
quarter finals in three consecutive tournaments, but Capello hopes to
change all that and has gone further in his quest at turning it into a
reality as he has ordered for surveillance cameras to be installed
around the hotel, including inside the players’ rooms, to ensure his
directives are carried out to the letter.

“I guess the coach
only wants what is best for the team, but I think he has gone too far
by placing cameras in their rooms,” said former Super Eagles defender,
Nduka Ugbade, who has never participated at the senior World Cup, in an
interview. He also said that “the players should be treated as adults,
and not as children who don’t know what is right from wrong.”

Former Brazilian
striker, Romario, once said: “Good strikers can only score goals when
they have had good sex on the night before a match,” and the late Welsh
forward, George Best, agreed, saying: “I certainly never found it had
any effect on my performance. Maybe best not the hour before, but the
night before makes no odds.” Former Arsenal and Sweden forward, Freddie
Ljungberg, however, holds a different view as he says that having sex
the night before a match makes his legs feel like concrete.

Nigerian example

There hasn’t been
any further comments from other teams taking part in the World Cup,
including the Nigerian team, but that does not in any way mean these
teams have an apathy towards the subject. Rather, it could be the
opposite.

“When we went to
the World Cup, we were given permission to have sex,” said a former
Super Eagles player who played under Clemens Westerhof at Nigeria’s
debut World Cup appearance in 1994, but who pleaded anonymity as he was
already married at the time of the tournament.

“Having sex takes
away a lot of stress,” he continued in the interview with NEXTSports.
“We played better as a result, and the coaches encouraged us to do it
once in a while. A few of us were married, but in the absence of our
wives we had to do it with some of the locals. But it was safe sex and
we were warned not to tarnish the image of the country by making it too
obvious.”

The Super Eagles
were one of the best teams at that World Cup, but suffered a shock
second round loss to eventual runners-up, Italy. Was it as a result of
the players’ involvement in sex?

“It’s not the sex
which tires out young players,” said Westerhof, in an interview
published back in 2002 in the Observer Sport Monthly. “It’s the staying
up all night looking for it.”

The year 2002 also
saw the Super Eagles appearing at the World Cup co-hosted by Korea and
Japan. Adeboye Onigbinde was the team’s coach, and he had a zero-level
tolerance for sex at competitions.

“My players must
get themselves prepared spiritually and this can be best achieved
through total abstinence from women,” he said before the tournament.
“They cannot afford to be distracted at such a critical period because
women are agents of distraction.” Onigbinde’s approach didn’t work,
however, as the Super Eagles failed to advance to the second round.

Scientific research

So does having sex
actually improve a player’s performance on the field of play? Sportsmen
have long perpetuated the theory that sex before competition saps
energy. Former boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, reportedly wouldn’t make
love for six weeks before a fight. Another boxer, Rocky Marciano, would
excuse himself from the marital bed for months before a big bout; while
Primo Carnera went further still by wrapping a rubber band around his
penis when he went to bed.

Ten years ago, Ian
Shrier, a sports medicine specialist at McGill University in Montreal,
Canada, published an editorial titled ‘Does Sex the Night Before
Competition Decrease Performance?’ in the Clinical Journal of Sports
Medicine. Shrier wrote that the “long-standing myth that athletes
should practice abstinence before important competitions may stem from
the theory that sexual frustration leads to increased aggression.” The
abstinence tradition is particularly strong in power sports, such as
boxing and football, in which aggression is considered a valuable
trait, as it is believed that sexual indulgence draws testosterone from
the body.

Emmanuele Jannini,
a professor of endocrinology at the University of L’Aquila, Italy, is
however, one of the most vocal opponents of this theory.

Endocrinology is
the study of bodily secretions, and Jannini, who has studied the
effects of sex on athletic performance, has found that sex in fact
stimulates the production of testosterone, thus boosting aggression.

“After three months
without sex, which is not so uncommon for some athletes, testosterone
dramatically drops to levels close to children’s levels,” he said. “Do
you think this may be useful for a boxer?”, he argued in an article
posted on the National Geographic website.

But, he made some clarifications to the effect that sex varies among athletes.

“Some personalities need more concentration. In this case, sex may be a bad idea,” he said.

“For other athletes, a bit of extra aggression could be the difference” between winning and losing.

“In this case, I would suggest a complete and satisfactory sexual intercourse the evening before the game,” added the Italian.

The Premier League club’s board signalled the 50-year-old’s
departure when it approved a payoff, reported by media to be around 3.0 million
pounds, despite agreeing a five-year contract in March last year.

According to the terms of that deal Benitez would have been
entitled to a severance package of around 16.0 million pounds but Liverpool,
burdened by debt and financially impoverished, would have struggled to pay him
off in full.

Benitez could have remained in his job knowing that the board
did not want him there. But a compromise was reached, paving the way for a
possible move into the Inter Milan job vacated by Jose Mourinho after winning
the Champions League with Inter last month.

“Rafa will forever be part of Liverpool folklore after bringing
home the Champions League following the epic final in Istanbul but after a
disappointing season both parties felt a fresh start would be best for all
concerned,” Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton said in a statement on the club
website (www.liverpoolfc.tv) Benitez added: “It is very sad for me to announce
that I will no longer be manager of Liverpool FC. I would like to thank all of
the staff and players for their efforts.

Failures too far

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti, who said earlier in the
week he rated Benitez but could nothing because the Spaniard was with
Liverpool, told reporters: “There is no news.” Benitez’s departure, after a
hugely successful start at Liverpool in 2004-05 when they won the Champions
League, comes as little surprise after they finished seventh in the Premier
League in the season just ended, their lowest position since 1999.

Liverpool finished second to Manchester United in 2008-09 by
only four points and were expected to challenge strongly for the title again.

But the departure of Xavi Alonso to Real Madrid for 30.0 million
pounds a year ago and injuries that sidelined key striker Fernando Torres for
more than 20 matches unbalanced the side.

They made a poor start to the season with defeats to Tottenham
Hotspur and Aston Villa in their opening three games, and were effectively out
of the title race by the end of October after three defeats in four games to
Chelsea, Sunderland and Fulham.

Their failure to advance from the group stages of the Champions
League last season and their failure to even qualify for the Champions League
next season were ultimately two failures too many for the board to accept.

However, the board did not make it all that easy for Benitez to
succeed either.

The American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have restricted his
transfer budget for the last three seasons, and have appeared to have lost
their passion for the club which is up for sale with debts of around 350
million pounds.

Qualifying from Group B won’t be a stroll in the park for the
Super Eagles, but former Nigeria internationals Nduka Ugbade and Ben Iroha
agree that the Super Eagle’s task of advancing to the knockout rounds of the
World Cup will become a lot easier if they achieve a win against the Greeks on
June 17.

“The Greek team has always been about team work and discipline;
that was how they were able to win the European Championships in 2004. But they
seem to have lost a lot of those qualities and appear ordinary nowadays,” said
former Super Eagles defender Nduka Ugbade, who now coaches and is a football
pundit.

“A lot has changed since 2004 and I think they will be the whipping
boys once again,” added Super Eagles left-back to the 1994 World Cup, where
Nigeria beat Greece 2-0.

Greece lost all their first round matches to Argentina, Bulgaria
and Nigeria conceding 10 goals and scoring none.

Leaking defence

Both Ugbade and Iroha were speaking in the aftermath of Greece’s
poor results in their build-up for South Africa 2010, the latest of which was a
2-0 defeat to fellow World Cup qualifiers Paraguay on Wednesday in Austria.
They had a few days earlier played out an unimpressive 2-2 draw against another
World Cup bound side North Korea.

“I wasn’t impressed with what I saw but it gave me a great deal
of hope because if the Super Eagles coaches do their homework then they should
get a victory over Greece. Hopefully, they should get a result against
Argentina in their opening match before facing Greece,” continued Ugbade
referring to the opening match on June 12 against the Argentines.

Ugbade then added: “Their defence was leaky. They were easily
exposed by fast counter attacks and they were too predictable when going
forward.” Decent attack The Greek forward line of Theofanis Gekas and Georgios
Samaras, irrespective of the score lines against North Korea and Paraguay,
still had some decent shots at goal.

But Iroha believes they can be curtailed. “Samaras, with his
height will always be a threat especially at set pieces but the Super Eagles
are defending better as a unit and should beat the Greeks.

“I think they might lose all their matches. In fact any team
that drops points to Greece will have to do a lot of catching up with the other
teams in the group,” he added.

Korean coach cautious

Coach of the South Korean team, Huh Jung-moo however calls for
caution as he feels it’s still too early to write off the Greeks.

Huh who watched Wednesday’s match in Austria alongside his
assistant coach Jung Hae-sung and a video analyst told the Korean news agency:
“Greece is also preparing for the World Cup.

“Some of their starters were out of the game. The important
thing is the Greece team of June 12th.” “The set-pieces are still a great
threat. We should not evaluate (Wednesday’s) team. We have to analyze, research
and prepare,” added Huh who nevertheless admitted that the Greek defence was
susceptible to fast counter attacks.

Abdulmumin
Babalola’s hopes of retaining the title he won last year at the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Open Tennis Championship was yesterday dashed as
he was displaced by Davis Cup team-mate, Shehu Lawal in two straight
sets: 6-4, 6-2.

Both players were
part of the Nigerian team to the Africa Zone 3 Davis Cup championship
recently held in Morocco and have also won the CBN tournament on three
occasions each.

In the other
quarterfinal pairing involving the number one seed, Sunday Emmanuel,
and fast rising youngster, Thomas Otu, the top seed showed class,
winning 6-2, 6-1.

Despite his victory, Emmanuel still commended the heroics of his opponent, stating that the lad has great potentials in him.

With this victory,
Emmanuel will be up against a familiar foe, Candy Idoko, in one of the
semi-final fixtures which, incidentally, will be a repeat of last
year’s edition.

He said, “Inside me
I play a good game but the games tomorrow will be tough because all
players in the semi-finals are very good and are all potential
winners.”

Meanwhile the
female defending champion, Fatima Abinu, continued confidently in her
title defence, as she dispatched old war horse, Margaret Oludunjoye,
who had to retire from the one-sided quarter final game owing to injury.

Over 200 players are taking part in this year’s Central Bank Open Tennis Championship

The battle for tickets into the finals of the IEI National
Hockey League billed to take place next month in Abuja hots up today at the
ongoing Savannah Assembly of the League.

Two teams; the Plateau Flickers and Katsina male teams, which
have six points each with two matches to go in Pool B, top the list of clubs
hoping to nick a ticket.

Plateau defeated Bauchi 3-0 yesterday to tie on point with Katsina
with two matches to go in the in the league.

Bauchi State and Nagwamatse may have joined Nasarawa Flickers in
the other side of the fence following yesterday loss against Plateau.

The 3-0 loss is their third and with one point to show after
four matches, they may just be out of contention for the two slots in the
group.

Nagwamatse has not faired any better, having secured one point
too after three matches.

Plateau will confront Kaduna Flickers today while Katsina will
take on Nagwamase.

The decider in the group would however be the final match
between the two teams, as winner of the match would possibly take home the
other slot in Pool B.

In the male Pool A, the fight is still between Police, Niger and
FCT Abuja who shared six points apiece and would be going into today’s matches
to decide winner and first runner-up in the group.

Meanwhile, Yobe Flickers officially secured a ticket to the
Abuja final, after winning their fourth consecutive games against Nagwamase
yesterday at the hockey pitch of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna.

Female event

In the female event, the front-liners are Police female team and
Plateau female club.

After three matches Plateau has secured a win and two draw and
on top of the table with five points.

Police shared same points but with a goal disadvantage.

Today mark the final day in the tournament and seven crucial
matches are up.

The top two clubs in Pool A and B make the final in the male
event while the top four qualify in the female event.

The qualifiers would play the Atlantic qualifiers for the Abuja
final slated to hold between July 11 and 18, 2010.