Bulus: Africa’s badminton champion reaching for the top
In the game of scrabble, Nigeria boasts of the best player on the continent and one of the best in the entire world in Jighere Wellington. In badminton where Nigeria is undoubtedly a force to reckon with, her athletes have continued to dominate the sport at the continental level. And this begins the story of […]
In the game of scrabble, Nigeria boasts of the best player on the continent and one of the best in the entire world in Jighere Wellington. In badminton where Nigeria is undoubtedly a force to reckon with, her athletes have continued to dominate the sport at the continental level. And this begins the story of one of Africa’s greatest badminton players, Bulus Jinkam Ephraim. At the moment, he is the best in Nigeria and Africa and is currently within the class of the first 120 players in the world.
Born on December 13 1988, Bulus Jinkam Ephraim, who hails from Karim Lamido local government area of Taraba State started playing the game of badminton at a very tender age. He took to the sport when he was eight years old. Like most teenage athletes, he was discovered and brought to limelight by a coach who goes by the name Joechita. Although he started right from primary school, he never took the sport seriously because as he said “It was like just catching fun and doing what most youths were not privileged to do at that particular time”.
Bulus, the name he prefers to be addressed with even though it is his grandfather’s name, enjoyed the support of his parents who encouraged him to continue playing badminton even when he entered secondary school. As a student of Government Day Secondary school Nukkai in Jalingo, his innate abilities in the game began to manifest in greater proportion.
The journey to stardom for the young badminton player began in 2001 at Bauchi where he took part in the Bauchi National U-15 Championship and was the cynosure of all eyes. Although he won a bronze medal in the singles event, he went home with a gold medal in boy’s doubles.
In 2002 at the Titi Atiku Abubakar National U-19 Badminton Championship, he won another bronze medal in boys’ double. Bulus steady rise to excellence continued uninterrupted as he won another bronze in boy’s single and silver medal in boy’s doubles at the 2004 Africa Junior Championship.
The major break through for him was in 2006 at the All African Junior Championship in Ethiopia Addis-Abba where he returned home with three gold medals. He was the winner of boy’s singles, boy’s doubles and the team event. The sterling performance effectively silenced his critics who believed he was nothing but a bronze medal player.
Before he went on to represent Nigeria at the 2007 All Africa Games in Algeria, Bulus put himself in shape for the continental event by three gold medals at the First Shaibu Sabon Birin National Badminton Open in Abuja in 2006. He took gold at the 2007 Thomas Cup Qualifiers in men’s singles and gold in men’s singles at 2007 National Classics in Abuja.
At the 2007 All Africa Games, he clinched gold in men’s singles event, bronze in men’s double and gold in team event. Not resting on his oars, the badminton star returned to Nigeria and won gold in men’s doubles at the 2008 Nigeria International Championship in Lagos.
Year 2009 outings by the Taraba State born athletes have shown in very clear terms that he is cut for the highest honours in the game of badminton. Towards the end of 2009, at the All Africa Senior Championship, he won gold in men’s doubles, and silver in men’s singles. At the Kenya International Championship in Nairobi, he returned with silver in men’s singles and silver in men’s doubles. The icing on the cake for him was his qualification for the 2009 World Championship in Hydrebrad India.
At the 2009 Abuja City National Open Championship, Bulus smiled home with gold medals in men’s singles, mixed doubles and a silver medal in men’s doubles.
Even as year 2010 is just warming up, he has already won several meets to increase his ever bulging cabinet of silverwares. At the 2010 Uganda International Championship, he won the gold in men’s singles and a silver medal in men’s double. Still in Uganda, where All Africa Individual Championship was staged, he won gold in men’s singles and gold in doubles. And at the Thomas Cup qualifiers to Malaysia, he grabbed a gold in men’s singles and gold in men’s doubles.
Bulus also took part in the 2010 Kenyan International Championship where he won bronze in men’s singles, silver in men’s doubles and silver again in mixed doubles.
By hard work and dint of luck, he has booked tickets to this year’s World Championship in Paris France. He is also going to represent Nigeria at the forth coming 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi India. Bulus immediate aspiration is to garner enough points in order to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He believes an appearance at the Olympics will be the climax of a fulfilling career in badminton. Bulus Jinkam Ephraim’s passionate prayer is for his nagging knee injury to take a break so that he will conveniently achieve his life time ambition of an Olympics appearance.