Benjamin Orakpo, Head Coach, National Badminton Team of Nigeria, says he is the happiest man in the world with Nigeria’s gold medal victory in the All African Senior Mixed Team championship.
Orakpo told the News Agency of Nigeria in Port Harcourt on Saturday that winning the gold medal was a dream come true.
He said: “I’m very excited, i must confess that I am the happiest man in the world today and I give all glory and honour to God.
“I thank the players, they have been wonderful, my assistants, the Badminton Federation of Nigeria and everybody that contributed to the success.”
According to Orakpo, the quality of play at the 18th Edition of the All African Senior Championships in Port Harcourt is very high.
He said: “I can assure you that all the top six in Africa, there is no guarantee that they will retain their position because of the quality of play.
“With what I’ve seen so far, I can’t guarantee that the African number one today, Julien Paul of Mauritius, African female player Kate Foo from Mauritius too, will both retain their titles.”
The badminton head coach in Nigeria commended the Badminton Confederation of Africa and BFN for the quality of umpires at the tournament.
Yogendran Krishnan, Chief Coach, Mauritius Team said that he was satisfied with the performance of his players in the mixed team championship.
He said: “We went through very tough draw, we faced Zambia in the group match, defeated Algeria 3-1 in the quarter final and beat Egypt 3-0 in the semi-final.
“In the final, we lost to Nigeria, the home team 2-3 in a very close game, so in my opinion, my team gave the best but it was not enough.
“It was a 50:50 game but Nigeria had advantage as home team, had the upper chance than us.”
Krishnan said that badminton was improving in Africa as more players were participating in the event.
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