Reigning Southeast Badminton champion, Jovita Anikwe (Anambra) has successful defended his crown, iat the fourth edition of the Bet9ja Southeast Badminton Championship, at the Indoor Sports Multipurpose Gymnasium Hall of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, today, by deafting 2024 Paris Paralympic player, Jeremiah Nnanna (Abia) (21-13, 21-16).
Anikwe, who has won the championship for three consecutive editions (from 2022 to 2024) is the third best and 400thi ranked player in the mixed doubles category at the national and global scene, j even as he continues to exhibit high level superiority and competitiveness in his game..
Despite missing out on the mixed doubles title with his partner (Chioma Udeh) to the pair of Emeka Uzukwu and Queen Chibuzor (Abia), the Anambra born player admitted that the annual tournament is getting tougher and exciting.
Speaking to newsmen shortly on the sidelines of his victory, the badminton prodigy is excited about his overall performance, stressing that the tournament getting competitive as a result of the caliber and quality of participation.
In the female category, Queen Chibuzor, (Abia) another dominant force at the local scene, proved too good to be curtailed, as she outclassed rising star, Uju Joy (Enugu), in two straight sets of (21-6, 21-12).
She disclosed that due to the technical and gifted quality her opponent posseses, she has to quickly adopt a different approach to counter her style of player, thereby giving the edge to control the flow of the game.
In other results of the final day of competiron, the combination of Jovita Anikwe and Owen Chidi (Anambra ) won the doubles men’s category against Eya Chikamso and Nmesoma Udechukwu (Enugu) (11-21, 17-21).
The women’s doubles final also kept the fans and supporters on their toes, constantly chanting and singing as the pair of Queen Chibuzor and Okoro Chinyere (Abia) exhibited amazing and scintillating skills to emerged winner over Joy Uju and Ada Okoro (Enugu).
For mixed double event, it was Emeka Uzukwu and Queen Chibuzor (Abia) resilience and doggedness that proved pivotal, as the pair came up tops against an experience Jovita Anikwe and youthful, Chioma Udeh (Anambra).
The veteran category .was also not short of excitement and spectacle with Oramalu Peter and Ikedi Eze (Enugu) working extra hard to defeat Aka Francis and Aniakor. Emmanuel (15-21, 21-18, 21-14).
To this end, for every player or players that emerged victorious in any category, they were rewarded with badminton equipment, medals, cash prizes as well as trophies.
The 3-day championship which had over 40 players and 5 coaches from the Southeastern states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo participating, just as the tournament organized by by the Southeast Badminton Outreach in collaboration with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, BFN, and the Enugu State Ministry for Youth and Sports Development, is sponsored by Bet9ja Foundation.
