Mbonu excited as O’Trafford special birthday squash tourney ends in style

Mbonu

It was a long weekend of action, frills and thrills as the special birthday squash tournament held to honour Dr. Okechukwu John Mbonu ended in style at the popular OTrafford Squash Club in Marina, Lagos.

The two-day event, which featured three categories of squash players drawn from four clubs within Lagos had been organised to pay tribute to Mbonu, a founding member of the club who recently clocked 70.

The competition had lived up to the hype, which preceded it with visitors and guests alike getting a full dose of their money’s worth as the contestants in the men’s, veterans and super veterans’ categories produced vintage squash action all through.

The ladies had set the tone for a weekend of excitement as they served off with an exhibition game in which Blessing Isaac achieved a 2-0 victory (14/12, 11/9) over Favour Utukpe, while Ayomide Oladipupo defeated Abel Shedrack 2-1 in three sets of 7/11, 11/6, and 11/7.

In the veterans’ category, Murphy Ajetunmobi of Yellow Dots Squash Club edged Ray Amaebi-Okoro 13/11, 11/6, 11/7 to win 3-0, while Clement Efekpokire stormed to a fantastic 11/5, 11/5,11/3 score to beat Olumide Sojunrin 3-0.

The celebrant, former Nigerian Breweries sales director, Mbonu, in an emotional response to what he described as a most surprising birthday gift was full of praises for the organisers for the honour, saying he will forever retain fond memories of the event.

“It’s quite an overwhelming surprise for me and a befitting way to mark my birthday. I am grateful to all who made this graceful occasion possible, especially my friends in the OTrafford Squash Club and the chairman of the club, Mr Taye Ige, who ensured that this grand event saw the light of day.

“I hope to see this special invitational