Team Imo emerged overall winner in the 2026 edition of the Bet9ja Southeast Zonal Badminton championship, with a total of 8 medals consisting: 3 gold, 4 silver and a bronze, in Awka, Anambra State, at the weekend.
The 3-day championship, which is targeted at discovering, nurturing, and showcasing the next generation of super stars from the region, brought together some of the best players, coaches, and officials from the five southeastern states.
Enugu, who also showed class, composure, and determination throughout the championship, finished second on the medal rankings with 3 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze medals.
Anambra, Abia and Ebonyi concluded the ranking in the third, fourth and fifth positions with (2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze); (2gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze) and (1silver and 1 bronze) respectively.
Meanwhile, Jovita Anikwe (Anambra) and Queen Sunday (Imo) retained their men and female singles titles in grand style, just as Anambra State’s Jovita and Onwe also claimed gold in the doubles men’s final.
For the women’s doubles, it was Uju Eneh and Chinyere Okoro (Enugu) that came tops, while the combination of Emeka Uzoukwu and Queen Sunday (Imo) proved too difficult to handle as they dispatched all their opponents n the mixed doubles category.
In the Para Standing (men’s event), the experienced Nnana Jeremiah breezed passed all his opponents to claim to gold for Abia State, just as Chinyere Okoro (Enugu) put up exceptional brilliance against every resistance to the top in the female category.
Similarly, the wheelchair men’s final was also not short of excitement and suspence as Victor Qzurumba (Imo) outclassed Africa’s second best player Emmanuel Ohaeri (Abia) to secure gold, while Ijeoma Gift (Abia) finished tops in the female category.
Interestingly, the veteran’s doubles category, which also added glamour to the championship, saw Reverend Father Johnson and Godwin bringing in a lot of enthusiasm and passion to emerge victorious.
To this end, all the winners in the various categories and exceptional individual performances carted home trophies, medals, cash prizes, as well as badminton equipment.
