Lagos Int’l Badminton Classics Serves Off Wednesday, Umpire Course Holds At Teslim Stadium

The 5th edition of the Lagos International Badminton Classics will hold this week at the indoor sports hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

Ahead of the event which serves off on Wednesday, the Badminton World Federation in conjunction with the Nigeria Badminton Federation organised a two-day Course for Umpires.

The Umpire Course was organised to update the knowledge of the participants to not only improve umpiring at the Badminton Classics, but also assist officiating officials who wish to become an international umpire.

P.M. EXPRESS reports that the success or otherwise of any tournament to an extent depend on the umpires who are expected to show fair judgement, good management and situation control.

Emphasising the role of the umpires, officials of the Badminton World Federation; Carrel Julie Carrel and Jozef Kuprivec explained that the governing body places great premium on the Lagos Badminton Classics and the course to ensure that the country benefits from hosting the international championship.

Twenty four umpires selected from different parts of the country are participating in the two day umpires course with six of the participants from Lagos state.

Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Oluwatoyin Gafaar said the knowledge gained will help the officials to do their job better.

The Lagos International classics is the highest ranked Badminton Championship in Africa with the prize money of 25,000 U.S dollars. Players from at least 34 countries including the host, Nigeria are expected to compete for honours at the five day championship.

Gafaar expressed the readiness of the state to host another successful tournament.

The Badminton classics serves off on Wednesday 24 July and end on Saturday 27.