Anuoluwapo Opeyori and Dorcas Adesokan both emerged champions of the male and female singles events of the 1st Mutual Benefits National Badminton Championships in Lagos.
Opeyori beat Godwin Olufua 21-07, 21-12 in a highly competitive games while Adesokan Dorcas remains champion of the female category seeing off Zainab Momoh of Oyo state 21-15, 21-14 on Saturday night.
In the doubles male event, Anuoluwapo Opeyori paired with Godwin Olufua (Lagos) to beat Habib Bello and Usman Ishaq, lifting the trophy after Usman Ishaq retired due to injury.
The shock of the night was in the female doubles category where Zainab Momoh (Oyo) and Augustina Sunday (Ondo) fell to Peace Orji (Oyo) and Deborah Ukeh (Edo) by 18-21, 21-13 and 16-21.
Adesokan (Ogun) joined Clement Krobakpo (Edo) to dominate the mixed doubles category beating Jinkam Ephraim (Civil Defense) and Maria Ebenezer 21-16, 21-14.
Speaking with aclsports.com, the newly crowned male champion, Anuoluwapo Opeyori said the feat calls for more hard work. He described the tournament to be a very competitive one which brought out the best in him.
“It was a good game and I’m excited to win the game. I’m currently looking forward to retaining the title at any national championship because all eyes will be on me now” he said
Adesokan Dorcas said defeating her opponent (Zainab) was a normal thing due to her been familiar with the Oyo based player.
“During the final I was a little bit nervous which is a normal thing. But after I got the first five points, the game became easy for me. Zainab is a good player but I had the game under control” the Africa number one said.
The President Nigeria Badminton Federation (NBF), Francis Orbih presented a cheque of one hundred and fifty thousand naira to winners of the male and female single events.
