Lagos International Squash Classics: Semifinal matches to hold today

The semifinal matches of the Lagos International Squash Classics hold on Friday at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Complex, Rowe Park.

Aside the host – Nigeria, other foreign nations taking part in the tournament are Egypt, Zimbabwe, Congo DRC and South Africa.

Already, the semifinalists in the boys’ U-19 event have emerged with the quartet of Edward Bette, Lanre Pratt, Musa Abubakar and Temiloluwa Adegoke.

To make it to the last four, It took Bette 25minutes to edge out Ayomipo Oladipupo 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, while Pratt had to work hard to overcome Onaopemipo Adegoke in an encounter that ended 12-10, 8-11, 4-11, 11-3, 11-2 in favour of Pratt.

Like Pratt, Abubakar was made to wriggle his way into the last four after surmounting Dele Pratt 3-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-1, 11-1.

For Temiloluwa Adegoke, it was an easy ride to the semifinal after beating Precious Fada 11-6, 11-8, 14-12.

In the semifinal pairing, Bette will slug it out with Pratt, while Abubakar will tackle Adegoke to decide the finalists in the category.

However, matches in the senior men and women categories were still on as at press time while the semifinalists were expected to have emerged on Thursday.

$40,000 is at stake at the tournament with the grand finale holding on Saturday.

For the Chairman, Lagos State Squash Association, Sanya Akindele, the earlier postponement of the tournament has given top players the opportunity to be part of the championship with five time winner of the World Squash Association (WSA)-organised tournament, Egypt’s Heba El Torky at present taking part in the competition.

“The postponement of the event has proven to be a blessing in disguise as we now have a larger complement of international players and the local players have had enough time to prepare for the tournament. We expect a huge turnout of squash lovers from far and near to see the Nigerian players square up against foreign opposition,” Akindele added.