By Folorunsho David
The qualifiers for the Nigerian University Games began in earnest on Wednesday, and the University of Ibadan contingent were absolutely amazing. The ‘first and best’ started on a winning note.
According to the sports secretary, UI participated in five sports today. Still, it was the football and basketball teams that put smiles on everyone’s faces after their triumphs – the basketball team started the day on a good note, humiliating First Technical University 63-5. It was an exhilarating performance, as the men from First Tech only managed to score a point in the third quarter.
After the Basketball team was done, the Premier Uni proceeded to trade tackles with the men from Lead City, Ibadan. After proving stubborn in the first half, Lead City succumbed to pressure in the second half, as UI poached two behind them to secure a 2-0 victory.
UCJ UI got in contact with some members of the basketball and football teams to get their thoughts on the qualifiers and their targets.
In an interview with a member of the basketball team, Folorunso iyanuoluwa Samuel, who had about 12 points in the game, he stated that he was glad to win the game against First Technical University. Still, he believes the team could do more.
“After the game, our discussion was to go back and play a better game tomorrow because the game today wasn’t good. The points were there, but the game wasn’t good. So you should expect more game spirit and more ginger tomorrow.” Samuel said.
The forward was also bullish as regards UI’s chances at the games. “Obviously, we are going to the championships, we are not playing with anybody, we are putting a 110 %, and we believe that by the grace of God, we are going to do magic.” He added.
However, Samuel lamented the lack of support from the University of Ibadan. He complained that players in the team have been catering to their own needs, and they’ve hardly received any form of monetary assistance from UI.
“They said they are going to support us, but what of before then what’s our own gain. We have dedicated so much to training, we didn’t go home for the holidays, but the school is not giving us anything.” Samuel said.
UCJ also got in touch with the football team, who were in high spirits after beating neighbours Lead City University 2-0 in a thrilling game. Attacker, Nubzy was glad about today’s result but still expressed dissatisfaction with the performance. He stated that UI would be ruthless against their next opponent- First Technical University, who were disgraced 7-1 by Ladoke Akintola University of Technology.
“We are not really shaken by the fact they(first tech) lost their first game by a large margin, we believe they are still a good side, and we are willing to put in our best, and we are going to play better than we did and make sure that those chances we created and couldn’t convert, we will convert a lot of them tomorrow so that we can score enough goals and make it to Lagos,” Nubzy said.
With today’s results, the UI contingent seem to be in a good position to qualify for all 13 sports the University is competing in.
