.by Willy Okonji-Lagos:
The Squash Section, Lagos Country Club over the weekend, held its 19th Annual Merchant Express Global Cargo Closed, Open Invitational and 5th PSA Squash Tournament where winners emerged in various categories.
The tournament, spreading accross a period of two weeks, saw players from over thirteen Squash playing Clubs accross the country competing in different categories; Men, Veteran and the Super-Veteran category for players above the age of 60.
In the Super-Veteran category, Telema Princewill of the Port Harcourt Squash Club retained his crown as the winner of the precious year, while Mike Nwabuzor of the Ikoyi Club, Squash Section became the runner-up.
From left, Mr Seyi Adewummi, President Lagos Country Club, Captain Samuel Caulcrick, Deputy Managing Director, Merchant Express Global Cargo Services, Mr Kingsley Nwokoma, General Manager Operations, Telema Princewill, winner of the Super Veteran, Squash Open Invitational Tournament and Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Mr. Sesan Asani.
From left, Captain, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Muazu Dahir, winner of the 5th edition of PSA rated annual Squash tournament Shuaib Giwa, Mr Kingsley Nwokoma, General Manager Operations, Merchant Express Global Cargo Services, Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Mr. Sesan Asani.
The Veteran’s final saw The Comptroller of Customs, Haniel Hadison of Lagos Country Club defeating Clement Efakpokire of Ikoyi Club, while the Men’s final had Bunmi Apata retaining the cup as the winner both in the last year’s edition and the just concluded edition, defeating Tayo Oladapo of the Unilag Squash Club in a tension-soaked final.
From left, Captain, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Muazu Dahir, Mr Seyi Adewummi, President Lagos Country Club, Mr Kingsley Nwokoma, General Manager Operations, Merchant Express Global Cargo Services, Captain Samuel Caulcrick, Deputy Managing Director, and Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Mr. Sesan Asani.
The 5th PSA category which had over 80 professional Squash players from across the Country participating in the tournament both male and female came with a lot of upsets with the hopefuls falling by the way side and the underdogs springing surprises. Young and promising Shuaib Giwa from Kwara State won the finals defeating Promise James from Eket. Rofiat Abdulazeez won in the female category by defeating Khadijah Abdulraheem, ,both from Kwara State. Apart from the cash prizes won, the PSA Tournament also increases the global ratings of participating professional players.
From left, Captain, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Muazu Dahir, Mr Seyi Adewummi, President Lagos Country Club, Dr.Bunmi Apata, winner of the Men, Squash Closed andOpen Invitational Tournament, Captain Samuel Caulcrick, Deputy Managing Director, Merchant Express Global Cargo Services, Mr Kingsley Nwokoma, General Manager Operations and Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Mr. Sesan Asani.
The Deputy Managing Director of Merchant Express Cargo Services, Captain Samuel Caulcrick commended the high spirit of Sportsmanship amongst the playing members and noted improvement on the standard of the game over the years. He looks foward to raising the bar in subsequent tournaments.
Mr Sesan Asani, the Chairman of Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, expressed satisfaction on the massive turnout for the event and members’ obvious enthusiasm towards the game of Squash. He thanked the Sponsors, Merchant Express Global Cargo Services for supporting the growth of the game of Squash being the 19th year the organization has been sponsoring this event. He thanked the Sponsors and promised a better tournament next year.
In his remarks, the President of Lagos Country Club, Mr. Seyi Adewunmi, while presenting an Award to the Sponsors, commended their unbroken record of annual support of the tournament for a period of nineteen years. He prays that the sponsorship will attract greater mileage for the organization and translate to financial success, so that the organization will continue to do more to support the game of Squash.
Muazu Dahir, Captain, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, Mr Dada Ayedun, Chairman NNLG Squash Club, Rofiat Abdulazeez, winner of the 5th PSA rated Squash Tournament, Mr. Sesan Asani, Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club.
