December 19, (THEWILL) – The inaugural Oyo State Badminton Association end-of-year rally was hosted over the weekend in the newly constructed indoor sports hall of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba Ibadan, by the association’s chairman, HRH Olatunde Oginni (JP), along with other executive members.
Athletes who represented the state at the recent National Sports Festival (NSF) in Asaba were also welcomed and praised for a job well done. They returned with an improved record of two silver and two bronze medals.
Remi Akinpelu, the Vice Chairman of the Badminton Association, thanked everyone who came to celebrate with the Association in her remarks to the media. She noted that this was the event’s first year and expressed hope that it would continue on its successful course as part of efforts to attract new players to the squash game.
She said: “I will like to appreciate our Chairman for his passion and optimism putting in since he was inaugurated as the boss of the badminton in Oyo State, and despite the short frame of time from the inaugurations and the departure for the festival, the association was still able to impact positively in the preparations of the athletes.
“The Athletes were camped for weeks by the Chairman, Oba Olatunde Oginni with provision of feeding and stipends, this is a commendable gesture, hence we are commencing for the next festival right from the end of Asaba 2022, so I can assure you that sky will be the limit of our athletes at the next festival in Ogun State.”
The invited dignitaries, which included traditional fathers, sports administrators, badminton enthusiasts from the Ibadan Tennis Club, and top Oyo State Sports Council officials, were entertained by a series of exhibition matches.
