Jacob Esuene Squash Club Organises Two- Day Squash Tournament In Eket

Sport

Jacob Esuene Squash Club Organises Two- Day Squash Tournament In Eket

T he Jacob Esuene Squash Club in Eket has intensified preparedness for the 2021season for its athletes . This is coming after eight months of inactivity due to the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) with the club putting together a two-day inhouse competition tagged "End of Year Tournament amidst Covid-19. The competition organised in six categories are: U-10 boys and girls, U-13 boys and girls, U-16 boys and girls, U-19 boys and girls as well as club men and women who battled for supremacy and warm-up for a new season after months of break. A member of the Akwa Ibom State Squash Association, Mr Iniobong Esuene, in his remark at the two- day tournament which took place at the Jacob Esuene Squash Club Complex, Eket from December 22-24, 2020, expressed delight that the players were able to play again together after the long break with the observing of safety protocols and thanked the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) for lifting ban on sports in the country. According to him, "As you know, the year has been very eventful with the pandemic. For the past eight months our players have been training individually at home. When I heard the ban on sports was lifted, I was excited to have our athletes back and train in groups. The head coach, Ibanga Etukudo and I thought of plans to keep them in shape and their fitness level on top ahead of next season and decided on organising a two-day event to close the year Esuene, an engineer and the chairman of the club said so far, the club has produced the current National U-13 second seed and South- South Champion in Miss Delight Temple. He noted that with the level of play and abundance of talents , the players will win laurels domestically and internationally for Nigeria in years to come. Also speaking, the head coach, Mr. Ibanga Etukudo, encouraged players to remain focus and put into practice all that they have learnt during the tournament as they prepare for a busy 2021 season starting with invitational tournaments in Lagos, three other tournaments in South Africa and Kenya. In his words, "We have invitations from organisers of squash tournaments in Lagos, South Africa, Kenya for next year, so I want my players to stay focus and be ready. This end of year tournament amidst COVID-19. It will help them prepare for a busy schedule ahead.

Meanwhile, Mitcheal Ibanga emegerd winner in U-10 boys, Gift Ulisis won in U-10 girls, while Mitcheal Ibanga won in U-13 boys and Ulisis also won in U-13 girls. For U-16 boys, Promise James emerged first, Delight Temple took U-16 girls. In the U-19 boys category, Daniel Isaac won , while Delight Temple won in the U-19 girls. In the club's men category, Fred Udoakagha emerged winner, while Mercy Koffi won in the women category.