Over N5m at stake as 32 players set for badminton classics

Badminton

Ikoyi Club (1938) has provided one of the best end of the year competitions for badminton players this season, with 32 of the country’s best stars ready to rumble for monies ranging from N500, 000 to N100,000.

The competition is the Third Ikoyi Club National Badminton Classics, which is returning after a 24-year hiatus.

The revived championship will hold alongside Nigerian Badminton Hall of Fame, which is being introduced to celebrate those that have contributed in several ways to the growth of badminton in the country.

Unveiling the programme for the Classics at the weekend, Nigeria Badminton Federation President, Francis Orbih, said the competition will start on Wednesday and end Saturday with the induction of a distinguished member of the badminton family into the Hall of Fame.

He disclosed that the 32 players (16 men and 16 women) will be grouped into four to play in a round-robin format with qualifiers from each group going into the quarterfinals. Orbih disclosed that the players qualified based on their positions in the national rankings, which was straightened by the recent Mutual Benefits Championships.

“This is a revival of the Ikoyi Club National Badminton Open, which started in 1989 and was held yearly up to 1998 when it became Ikoyi Club National Classics, which was open to only the best of the country’s stars.

“The first two editions of the Classics were held in 1998 and 1999 and since then none was held until now that we are reviving it.”

“It is on record that for the 11 years that it was held, so many national and international stars emerged from the championship,” he said.

According to Orbih, the first three winners, men and women, will earn N500, 000, N300,000 and N150,000 each.

“The money is graduated