Niger United Handball Club has been decorated champions of the 2023 Ardova Handall Premier League in Lagos. The club won the first edition of the revived handball league sponsored by Prudent Energy in 2018.
The head coach of Niger United HC, Yekini Adebayo told www.aclsports.com that winning the league is a big deal for the club and state
Adebayo praised his players for making the 2023 All Stars Team and sending strong signals to their opponents during the competition.
He said the game of John Shagari (Best LeftBack) has improved drastically despite switching from basketball to handball within three years.
He said, “I feel glad to win the 2023 Ardova Handball Premier League after winning the first edition of the Prudent Energy Handball League in 2018 (five years ago).
“I am excited three of my players won individual awards and made the All Stars Team; this means Niger United HC is back to the business of handball. John Shagari won the Best LeftBack, Suleiman Usman got an award for the Best Pivot while Abbas Mohammed won the Best Goalkeeper”.
“John Shagari is an upcoming player. He started handball three years ago; and is a fast learner. He was formerly a basketball player before he was convinced to play handball; I am very impressed although his previous team did not utilise him properly.
Coming to play for a well established and intelligent team with highly experienced players brought out the best in him. If you watched John Shagari in the first and second phase of the league; you will know Shagari has become a very standard player”, he told www.aclsports.com
Adebayo attributed fatigue and injury to the team’s inability to beat Rima Strikers of Sokoto who defeated them by 30 to 31 goals.
He said, “I did not have any doubt in my players coming into the second phase of the league not until the match against Rima Strikers.
“Why Niger United lost the match was because it came on the eve of our game against Safety Shooters and most of the players had fatigue and sustained minor injuries. This gave room for Rima Strikers to beat us by one goal different 30 to 31 goals; if you look at the game against Rima Strikers you will see that they struggled to convert their chances”.
“The team has the confidence to play against any team in the league because we were well prepared. We had a lot of time to train, tactically correct their lapses and study the clips of our opponents to know their weaknesses”, he added
Adebayo explained that Niger United has begun preparations for next year’s African Club/Winners Championship.
Men’s Table:
Niger United (1st), TojeMarine Academy (2nd), Safety Shooters (3rd), Kano Pillars (4th), Lagos Seasiders (5th), Rima Strikers (6th), Confluence Stars (7th), De Defenders (8th), Correction Boys (9th), Benue Buffaloes (10th), Bendel Dynamos (11th), and Police Machines (12th)
