Croatia Defeat France to Win Davis Cup Title
Marin Cilic sealed Croatia’s victory over defending champions France in the Davis Cup final with a 7-6 6-3, 6-3 win over Lucas Pouille last Sunday afternoon in Lille.
Croatia led 2-0 after Borna Coric and Cilic recorded straight-set wins over Jeremy Chardy and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday, but Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won Saturday’s doubles to give France hope.
The hosts trailed 2-1 and needed to win both reverse singles on the final day to become the first team since 1939 to overturn a 2-0 deficit in a final, but their hopes of a comeback were soon dashed.
Cilic produced a dominant
The 2018 edition of the Nigeria Bankers Games came to a climax at the weekend at the YabaTech Sports Complex, Yaba, as United Bank for Africa (UBA) emerged champions of football event the of Games.
Samir Bello capitalised on Fidelity Bank defensive blunder late in the second half to give UBA their first football gold since 2014.
The colourful closing ceremony was graced by Mr. Tony Elumelu – Chairman, UBA, Nnamdi Okonkwo – Managing Director Fidelity Bank, Desmond Anumkua – Divisional Head, Internal Control Compliance, Fidelity Bank, Charles Aigbe - display to defeat Pouille in straight sets and give Croatia an unassailable 3-1 lead, to clinch their second Davis Cup crown following their maiden win in 2005.
Former US Open champion Cilic struggled with his first serve in the opening set, yet still didn’t face a single break point.
Pouille, who replaced Jeremy Chardy after France captain Yannick Noah changed his line-up in a bid to force a decisive fifth match, made repeated mistakes on his backhand.
He managed to stay in contention on the back of his strong serve and some clever drop shots that surprised Cilic, but his Croat rival raised Divisional Head, Corporate Communications, Fidelity Bank, Shina Atilola – Group head, Strategy and Innovation, Sterling Bank, Atilade Adeyinka – Unit Head, IT Budget and Control Management, FCMB, Uyi Uhunmwangho – Team Manager, Stanbic IBTC and Corporate Nigeria Hall of Famers - Eric Iruh, Theo Amadi, Lekan Olanrewaju, Mustapha Kayode Abdulrasheed, Kayode Agbalaja and Andrew Enebeli.
The event kicked off with a novelty match between the Corporate Nigeria Hall of Famers and auditing firm – KPMG in what was their first involvement in the Corporate his level in the tiebreaker.
Cilic won four straight points to seal the set, including a thunderous forehand pass that left Pouille stranded.
Pouille’s level of play then dropped drastically, while Cilic kept up the intensity and broke for a 4-2 lead in the second set.
Pouille managed to save four set points in the eighth game with a series of fine serves before Cilic held his next service game to seal the set with a crosscourt forehand.
Despite the support of the vociferous French fans at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium, Pouille appeared powerless in the third set and dropped his serve again in the fifth game after yet another backhand Nigeria Games. Rasheed Kayode got two goals for the hall of famers before Busayo Olomolaye pulled one back for KPMG. The match ended two goals to one in favourof the Hall of Famers.
In the third place match, 2017 second runner-up – FCMB pipped Union Bank by a lone goal. Opatoki Emmanuel cross found FCMB’s talisman Nsikak Ekanem who beat the goalkeeper with a header to pick the bronze medal.
The closing ceremony also witnessed the finals of the athletics event. In the 100metres, Alaekwe Chidozie of Sterling Bank claimed gold in the male error that sealed his fate.
The Frenchman saved two match points at 5-3 but was forced to watch when Cilic unleashed a superb lob that secured another break and the title.
Croatia, who were the first unseeded nation to win the Davis Cup in 2005, will now enter the history books as the last winners of this Davis Cup format before the century-old competition is revamped next year.
The 2019 competition will do away with the home and away format after an opening qualification round and will culminate in an 18-nation finals week in Madrid in November. category, while Sharon JohnAkachi of Fidelity Bank picked the gold in the female category.
In the 200 metres, Mujeeb Oguntowo won gold for Stanbic IBTC in the male category, just as Kodoye Ayakuralere of UBA won the gold medal in the female category.
The 4x100 metres relay saw the Sterling Bank team win gold in the female category with UBA clinching the gold in the male category.
Meanwhile, Fidelity Bank emerged overall champions with a total of seven gold, seven silver and five bronze medals. The bank has now won the games for the fourth consecutive time.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand who is in Lagos on a three-day promotion programme courtesy Guinness Nigeria has described former Chelsea star, Didier Drogba as the toughest African opponent he encountered in the English Premier League.
The ex-Red Devils defender is on an invitation for Guinness’ Fans Made of More camoaugn aimed at discovering football talents.
Speaking at Guinness’ corporate headquarters in Ikeja yesterday, Ferdinand revealed Drogba was an exceptional African footballer.
The former Manchester United central defender also listed Cameroonian Samuel Etoo Fils as another great player from the continent.
He paid glowing tribute to former Nigerian stars like Sunday Oliseh, Rashidi Yekini, Austin Jay Jay Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu.
“Growing up in England there were always Nigerians around me. But (Austin) Okocha was something else. Followed his game from PSG till when he came over to the Premiership with Bolton Wanderers.
“We used to share videos of his games to watch so as to learn one thing or two from his bundle of skills. Same with (Nwankwo) Kanu.
These exceptional Nigerian players had huge influence on black players in the UK,” recalled Ferdinand while fielding questions from reporters
He said he was happy to be part of the Guinness project because Nigeria’s passion for the game was huge and infectious. “Your passion is exceptional for football same as your culture and music that is all over the world now.”