Multiple National Para Badminton Champion, Eniola Bolaji has been ranked World number 7 in the Women’s SL3 according to the World Para Badminton Governing Body.
www.aclsports.com reports that her performance at the recently concluded Spanish Para Badminton International Championship 2024 in Victoria moved her three places from number 10 to number 7 with 39550 points.
The Kwara born player overwhelmed world number 6, Oksana Kozyna from Ukraine 2-0 (21-13, 21-8) to clinch the gold medal in the women’s SL3 at the 2024 Spanish Championship which ended on 21st April.
An elated Bolaji excited described the world ranking leap as a call for more hard work.
She dedicated her current achievements and feat to her Late coach, Bello Oyebanji who died in a ghastly car accident along Oyo/Ogbomosho expressway in 2021 on his way to Ilorin after securing a visa head of an Olympic qualifier in preparatory for the Tokyo Paralympics.
The African Champion said, “I am happy for my steady progression in para badminton because I never say this is coming within this short period. Not many people knew I was ranked number 8 in the world but my ranking dropped because I could not attend some International Championship.
“I am dedicating my current ranking to my Late Coach, Bello Oyebanji because he made a lot of sacrifice for me when he was alive. I also want to thank the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) led by Francis Orbih as well as the Kwara State Government for the support”.
Mariam Bolaji has began her title chase at the 2024 Spanish Para Badminton International in Toledo defeating Coraline Bergeron (France) 2-0 (21-9, 21-17) and Parul Parmar (India) 2-0 (21-9, 21-7) in the group stages.
