I can’t believe I am out of London Olympics – Jinkam

The pain is made worse by the fact that the player who is going to represent the continent is not better than him. According to the Taraba State born badminton star, whenever he remembers that he is not going to attend the 2012 Olympics, he feels like he is having a terrible nightmare. Jinkam who […]

The pain is made worse by the fact that the player who is going to represent the continent is not better than him. According to the Taraba State born badminton star, whenever he remembers that he is not going to attend the 2012 Olympics, he feels like he is having a terrible nightmare.

Jinkam who spoke to Shot! on phone said although he wanted to attend and win a medal for the country in badminton, he could not realize his ambition because he was unable to get the points that would have qualified him to represent the country and the continent.

He explained that the player from Uganda who is going to represent Africa is not a better player but he is seeded higher than him by the world badminton ruling body because he had played more championships which gave him more points than he (Jinkam) was able to garner from fewer championships.

“Sir, I am yet to recover from the shock. It pains me that I am not going to be part of the 2012 Olympics. I wanted it to be my first Olympics but now my dreams have evaporated. I cannot make it again but it is not my fault.

“The player from Uganda who is going to represent Africa is not better than me. One on one, he cannot withstand me. But the fact of the matter is that he was sponsored by his country to attend the required number of international championships.

“He attended over twenty championships but I had no sponsorship so it was not possible for me to attend many competitions. Eventually, when our points were computed, he scored higher points and was picked ahead of me.

“Anytime I remember that I am not going to be at the Olympics for no fault of mine, it makes me sad. Had it been I attended the required number of international championships, I would have been seeded ahead of him but my country has failed me. While the Ugandan was sponsored to attend championship, my country was nowhere to be seen”, he lamented.

Jinkam said the president of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Justice Danlami Senchi did his best to sponsor him to international competitions but as an individual, he could not do more than he did.

He said even if he was given fifty percent support, he would have picked the required points to represent the country at the Olympics because he is playing his best game at the moment.

“The president of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria did his best for me. He sponsored me to attend international competitions but as an individual, there is a limit to what he can do. I expected the government to give me the necessary support, but nothing happened.

“Now I am not going to the Olympics and it looks like my world is coming to an end. The dream of every top athlete is to feature in the Olympics and that’s exactly what I wanted to do.  I worked hard but my efforts have ended in vain.

Jinkam however said he is not going to give up on his dream because after the London Olympics, there is going to be another one and he will surely realize his dream.

“I am not giving up. I am out of this one but this is not the end. I will keep playing until the day I will win a medal for Nigeria at the Olympics. I conquered Africa and I want to conquer the world at the Olympics level”, he enthused.