Nigeria Customs Service beach volleyball player, Francisca Ikhiede is confident that she can win her fourth consecutive title at the forthcoming 2023 President Beach Volleyball Cup in Kaduna.
The 4th edition of the President Beach Volleyball Cup is billed to hold from 13th to 19th February 2023 at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna State.
According to the two times National Sports Festival Champion, Nigeria Customs Service is one race to stamp her dominance in the women’s beach volleyball event and preparations with her pair have been ongoing since last December.
Ikhiede said, “Nigeria Customs Service are not hoping for anything less than winning the President Beach Volleyball Cup because we want to be champions. But all of that will be determined on the court.
“Preparations for the President Cup have been going on smoothly with my partner and captain of the team, Tochukwu Nnoruga. We have been in open camp since we returned from the 2022 National Sports Festival in Delta State. We have all it takes to win the president cup as we have not relented in working hard.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has impacted so much on us and is still impacting us making the training arena conducive for us to train and providing the necessary training equipment”.
Ikhiede said no team will be underrated at the President Cup no matter their size or height.
She said, “I am not underrating any team because no team is an underdog. My pair and I will take it a step at a time till we get to the finish line.
Meanwhile, Tochukwu Nnoruga said the President Cup means a lot to her and will add to her pedigree in the beach volleyball family across Africa.
Nnoruga said, “I am gunning for my third consecutive title this year while my teammate is aiming for her fourth. We have been paired for a very long time and winning the President Cup will boost our FIVB ranking.
“It is our target to be at the Paris 2024 Olympics and hopefully we will get there because we want to ensure the flag of Nigeria is hoisted at the beach volleyball event”.
