LAGOA – Nine-year-old Marylove Edwards of Agege Local Government on Thursday defeated Osarieme Charles, 13, of Eti-Osa Local Government 4-0, 4-0 to reach the semi-final of the girls tennis event at the ongoing “Ibile Games in Lagos State.
The Ibile Games now in its 2nd edition is the Lagos State Sports Festival designed to discover athletes who will represent the state in major national competition.
Thirteen local governments are contesting for honours in the girl’s tennis event at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre, Lagos.
Edwards stunned the spectators as she outsmarted Charles in less than 30 minutes in the second game of the day.
“I am glad I won my opponent. I was confident defeating her with ease because I had won all the time we met in all competitions we played against ourselves.
“It was an easy game for me because I go for training almost every day whether or not there is a competition or not,” she said.
Meanwhile, in the first game of the day, Venus Ubiebi, 13, of Ketu/Agboyi Local Government defeated Mariam Balogun, 11, of Eti-Osa Local Government 5-4 (4), 4-1 in a pro-set game.
Also, in the team event, the Lagos Mainland Local Government defeated Yaba Local Government 24-22 in the basketball event
Seven local government areas and 25 secondary schools are competing for honours in basketball in this edition of the Games.
Ojokoro LGA, Ijaiye, also defeated Ikoyi/Obalende LGA, 34-32 in a close encounter, while Bariga LGA defeated Ikorodu North by 41-8 to top the table log in the LGA category.
The Captain of the Bariga LGA team, Adeshogo Mobolaji, told NAN that his team would dominate and win the gold medal in the LGA category.
“We train together all the time, we are schoolmates at the University of Lagos, Akoka, so we know each other very well and we are ready for any challenge,’’ Mobolaji said.
In the Secondary School category, Aiyetoro Grammar School, Oyingbo, defeated Shomolu Senior Secondary School, 25-0, in the girls’ category.
The team also led the log of other eight school teams registered in the girls’ category for the competition.
Ifunanya Okoye, the captain of Aiyetoro Secondary School, told NAN that the teams were familiar to each other because they were all members of the Hope 4 Girls Academy.
“We are glad we won our first game, we practise basketball together at Hope 4 Girls Academy, we will surely win the gold medal,” she said
The University of Lagos’ International School, Akoka, Lagos, trounced Christian Mission Society (C.M.S) Grammar School Bariga 11-8, while Wesley Colege, Yaba beat Ilupeju Grammar School 11-0. (NAN)
