Nigerian badminton stars in search of 2012 London Olympics tickets

As daunting as the target they have set for themselves may appear, when they spoke exclusively to Trustsports, the badminton stars were unanimous in their position that if given the opportunity to feature in many international tournaments, they would be able to actualize their dreams. They, therefore, called on Justice Danlami Senchi led Badminton Federation […]

As daunting as the target they have set for themselves may appear, when they spoke exclusively to Trustsports, the badminton stars were unanimous in their position that if given the opportunity to feature in many international tournaments, they would be able to actualize their dreams.

They, therefore, called on Justice Danlami Senchi led Badminton Federation of Nigeria to sponsor them to international competitions where they would win and garner the required points to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. The players expressed optimism that the challenges they face are enormous but if given the required support, nothing would stop them from qualifying for the Olympics and doing Nigeria and Africa proud.

Jinkam Ifaimu Bulus

For me, qualifying for the Olympics is everything. But it is not easy to qualify for the Olympics. Before you qualify, you will have to play close to twenty international tournaments and this is where the Badminton Federation of Nigeria comes in. I am determined to end my career as an Olympian but I cannot achieve this dream without support from the federation. If I have access to the required tournaments, I will not disappoint. I will garner the required points for an appearance at the Olympics. And if I get to the Olympics in 2012, I will give my best for Nigeria and Africa. It is not going to be too difficult because the same people you will meet at the Olympics are the same players you must have met during the international tournaments. Therefore, if you were able to beat them, why won’t you be able to beat them at the Olympics? All we need is the foreign tournaments to enable us pick the required points to qualify. The rest will be sorted out at the games.

Fagbemi Ebenezer Olaoluwa

Playing at the Olympics is my dream. I am working seriously hard towards actualizing my dream but I need every support from the Badminton Federation of Nigeria. To qualify for the Olympics, one needs to participate in so many international tournaments. The problem we have here in Nigeria is that whenever we go for one tournament, the next two to three months, you will be idle because there will be no competition for you to attend. Therefore, even if you continue to train hard, your game continues to drop because there is no competition for you to use in testing your skills against other players. The ideal thing is for us to keep moving from one tournament to the other but the story here is not the same. It makes us relax and this is not good. If we are to qualify to represent Nigeria and Africa at the next Olympics, we need to have so many tournaments to attend. It is only by attending and playing well that we would be able to gather enough points to qualify for the Olympics. Without consistent appearances at international competition, there is no way we would qualify for the Olympics. We are determined to qualify but the Badminton Federation must also be ready to give us all the necessary support. I have no doubt in my mind that the present leadership which is committed will not fail to avail us the opportunity of featuring in all the relevant tournaments.