Nigeria suffered a difficult start at the ninth Lagos International Badminton Classic, with seven players exiting the women’s singles, but the hosts responded strongly as four Nigerian pairs advanced to the mixed doubles quarter-finals.
Nigeria’s number-one ranked women’s singles player, Ruth Ebere, was among those eliminated after losing 21-15, 21-10 to India’s Surya Tamiri. Tolulope Oluwadamilola, Kadijat Emiola, Ifeoluwa Ojo, Precious Oluwagbotemi, Peace Jonah and Naomi Tanko also lost their respective Round-of-32 matches at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Nigeria’s fortunes improved in the mixed doubles, with Victor Ikechukwu and Emiola defeating Uganda’s Ray Nsubuga and Tracy Naluwooza 21-18, 21-12. Kayode Abdulateef and Cynthia Feranmi also secured a quarter-final spot after overcoming Ghana’s Ofori Acheampong and Racheal Quarcoo 21-15, 23-21, while Usman Afolabi and Zainab Alabi fought back from a first-set loss to defeat the UAE-Australia pairing of S. Munnangi and Stret Yellapragada 14-21, 21-13, 21-17. Saidu Aliyu and Christiana Obasmani advanced through a walkover.
Ebere said the gap between Nigerian players and established international competitors remained a challenge, while Tanko attributed the early setbacks to inadequate training and limited competitive opportunities.
With the tournament scheduled to end on Saturday, the mixed doubles quarter-finalists now carry Nigeria’s hopes of securing honours on home soil.
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