Sports

2020 Olympic: Baseball camping, screening ends in Ilorin, tomorrow

 

The on-going camping and screening exercise for the national baseball team, ahead of the 2020 Olympic qualifiers at the Baseball Park, Adewole, Ilorin is expected to end on Friday.
The camping and screening, which is in two phases, began on Sunday with 45 players drawn from six states of the federation, and who will be reduced to a final list of 20 at the end of the exercise.
The states are Delta, Lagos, Oyo, Bayelsa, Niger and Kwara.
Nigeria will compete in West Zone I, alongside host Ghana, Tunisia, Burkina Faso and Cote-D’Ivoire. Two countries are expected to emerge after the four-day championship which holds between March 22 to 25, 2019.
Togo, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo had earlier withdrawn from the qualifiers which were originally designed to hold in two groups of West I and II.
The two qualifiers are expected to play in South Africa between 1st to 5th  May, 2019.
The camping in Ilorin is being supervised by Omotosho Samson, who is the Secretary, Nigeria Baseball and Softball Technical Commission and Ogunseye Joseph, who is the Team Manager.
The team, after the final selection, will continue their preparations in Lagos, from where they will jet out to Ghana for the qualifiers.
While speaking to newsmen on the team’s preparations, the Secretary, Nigeria Baseball and Softball Technical Commission, Omotosho Samson praised the standard displayed by the players, even as he expressed optimism that Nigeria will qualify for the 2020 Olympics, despite having little time to prepare.
He commended the Kwara state government, Nigeria Baseball and Softball Association (NBSA), the Vice President of the body, Mrs. Felicia Kisira and Alhaji Jani Ibrahim, the Technical Adviser, Lubcon Limited for their support.
Also speaking on Nigeria’s preparedness, the Head Coach, Ike Magnus said that the technical crew will work hard to pick the best that will do the nation proud at the championship.
While praising the standard exhibited by the payers, he commended Kwara, Lagos and Rivers states for supporting the development of the sport.

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