As the 5th Lagos International Classics progresses, both international and indigenous players have rated the organisation as high.
The players also said that they had good time playing in the championships.
Speaking to NAN on the sidelines of the Match Day 3, some of the players said that they were in Nigeria to garner points for their rankings.
Milan Dratva from Slovakia said that he was in the competition to make a statement for himself, adding that his first victory against a Nigerian player, Mohammed Shittu was a tough one.
“I am in the tournament to make a statement. I trained hard for this competition because I already have an idea of what to expect, especially from the host players.
“I really had a tough encounter against Shittu, who I have yet to play against, he is a strong player and I have to use my experience against him because he was giving a good fight.
“I need to be more focused to progress in this competition, and I can say that the organisation is very good, and the atmosphere is much welcoming,’’ he said.
Mohammed Mustapha, a Nigerian player, said he would love to have more challenge from the foreign players because their exposure would help his progression in the sport.
“I prefer to play against the foreign players because most of us in Nigeria know ourselves, playing against the professionals will not only help my confidence but experience.
“It is going to be a tough call in this championships because it is the highest ranked badminton in Africa. We expect many professionals to give a good fight here, but we are more ready.
“Another issue is that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is around the corner, so, many of the professionals will want to use the tournament to shore up points for themselves, this will make the competition tougher.
“I am happy that we are the one hosting this great event because it has given us the opportunity to have the professionals around for contest.’’
Another Nigerian player, Alhaji Aliyu Shehu form Niger State who won his first match, told NAN that he was happy with his first win, adding that he was looking forward to a quarter-finals berth.
“My first victory was both sweat and sweet. I am happy for the feat, especially playing against another professional from the U.S.; he made me work for it.
“What is on my mind now is to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of the game which I don’t think it is unachievable; some of the professionals here are people like us.
“The organisation of this championships is standard and as high as in every place; I praise the organisers for a job well done,’’ he said.
The President of Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, said that the keen competition among the players was expected given that they want to garner points for the Olympics.
“With the caliber of players registered for this Lagos International Badminton Classics, we expect a tough and interesting challenge. The quality of players here is high.
“It is also an Olympic year, everybody is here to garner points for the Tokyo 2020, so they are here to fight and we expect a high standard in terms of performance from them.
“This has been a tradition of having quality play among the players and we expect that this year will not be an exception from what we have been having or even higher performance,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the 5th Lagos International Badminton Classics is ongoing at the Sir Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
Over 34 countries are in attendance at the highest ranked Badminton tournament in Africa which will end on Saturday.
