Monfils advances, Wang upsets Venus on French Open’s Day 1
Organisers unveil trophies, jerseys for MRS Kids Cup finals Obuh advises Rohr to give players equal opportunity against DR Congo Lucky fans get signed Coca-cola balls from Troost-ekong, others
FRENCH veteran Gael Monfils survived a first round test in defeating his 19-year-old compatriot, Elliot Benchetrit 3/6; 6/1; 6/2; 6/1 on the opening day of the French Open at the Suzanne Lenglen Court. On the same arena, however, ninth seeded Venus Williams suffered an upset in losing to China’s Qieng Wang 6/4; 7/5, to the delight of her countrymen six time zones away.
The youthful Elliot won the first set from the popular star and the match portended a positive result in the challenge by the next gener-
JERSEYS and trophies were on Thursday unveiled in Lagos for the finals of the sixth MRS Kids Cup football competition for the U-12 boys and U-16 girls categories, holding on May 31 at the Campos Mini Stadium.
Winners of this year’s edition in both boys and girls cadres will get N300,000, runners up N250,000 and the second runners up N200,000, in addition to gold plated trophies.
Speaking at the occasion, the Managing Director of MRS Oil Nigeria Plc., Andrew Gbodume said the competition offered the company the opportunity to exercise its corporate social responsibility.
“The objective of the tournament, which was set up ation of players. Elliot, from Nice, is ranked 302 in the world and benefited from a wild card to enter the main draw.
Monfils drew on his experience and took the second set 6/1 in less than 35 minutes. When he took the third set by a slightly better margin, the resolve of the upstart weltered and as he lost the fourth 6/1. Monfils’ big serve registered with an average speed of 210 km while Elliot clocked 201. Monfils committed seven double faults to his opponent’s five. They were almost even in outright win- six years ago, was mainly to achieve one of our corporate social responsibilities, and also to cultivate the spirit of sportsmanship among our youths. It is well known fact that sport is the greatest unifying factor in our country and in the world today.
“We decided to put this competition in place in order to discover them at a very young age and to take them off the streets and make them less idle, by getting them busy, as they say an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” Gbodume said. Also speaking on the competition, the National Youth Soccer Association appealed for sponsorship from the local, state and Federal governments in order to take the competition to a higher pedestal. ners but Benchetit made 66 unforced errors, as the match progressed, especially from the second set. At the end, Monfils tallied a total of 118 points to 84 for the opponent.
Venus lost the first set on a single break. Starting serving in the second, she held quickly, indicating resurgence. She took the second game by breaking her opponent’s serve and consolidated to lead 3-0. In the fourth game, Wang, ranked 85 in the world, held her serve, but Venus could not convert it and proceeded to lose and the score even at three
FORMER Flying Eagles manager, John Obuh believes the Super Eagles players have no reasons to fail at the Russia 2018 World Cup, which kicks off on June 14, saying the financial and moral support given to the team should be enough to motivate them to success. Obuh told Theguardian at the weekend that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should be applauded for rallying round to see that the Eagles get the financial support needed to fly high in Russia, adding that
LIVERPOOL Football Club and Standard Chartered Bank have announced a four-year extension to their main sponsor agreement, taking the bank’s partnership with the Club through to the end of the 2022/23 season.
The bank first signed up as the club’s main sponsor in July 2010, and the agreement was extended in 2013 and again in 2015. Financial terms of the agreement remain confidential.
Standard Chartered Bank in a statement at the weekend said the sponsorship provides it with an opportunity to accelerate visibility of its brand, improving recognition across key markets around the world because Liverpool FC has a games apiece.
In the crucial seventh game, Venus used her powerful serve and hold for a 4-3 lead. However, her opponent leveled at four-all.
Wang achieved the decisive break of serve to win the 11th game. Serving for the match, she took the first two points to lead 30-0 and prevailed in a long rally to reach match point. She held her service game to take the set 7-5. The match was close in all departments. Venus delivered four aces to Wang’s two, but doublefaulted four times to a single occasion by her opponent. the federation has bucked the trend by meeting the demands of the players before the World Cup.
“This is the first time in the history of soccer in Nigeria that a team is getting the necessary financial support before the World Cup. The NFF must be commended for this achievement.
“Now the Eagles have to go to Russia and give their best. The players have to be more committed to play for their names and country. Nigerians are totally behind large number of fans across its core markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
“Additionally, over the last eight years Standard Chartered and Liverpool FC have used their partnership to support a number of the Bank’s sustainability and community investment programmes. The annual ‘Perfect Match’ game – where LFC players swap the Standard Chartered logo on their shirts for the Seeingis Believing logo – has raised more than $480,000 to tackle avoidable blindness.”
Speaking on the new deal, Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer, Liverpool Football Club, Billy Hogan said: “As a Club them.
“On the number of players invited for the camping, I don’t think Rohr would be confused in selecting his final 23 out of the 30 players. As a coach I think he invited some players to encourage them and also have enough substitutes in case of injury issues. “Developing and exposing players is a continuous exercise. The players should also be given equal chances against DR Congo and other friendlies,” he said. we’re very proud to have Standard Chartered renew their relationship for another four years. Our connection runs deep, it means more than just sponsorship, from the outset it has been about working together with the Club and our communities and supporters around the world.
“Importantly, it also means we are able to support our ambitions on the pitch and compete with the best in the world. We have enjoyed many highlights of this relationship so far and I look forward to many more.”
To the Group Chief The Super Eagles are in Port Harcourt ahead of today’s World Cup warm-up match against DR Congo. The Eagles entered into Port Harcourt fresh from their training camp setup in Uyo with high hopes for the friendly.
At the arrival, a pair of lucky fans got to meet and greet William Troost-ekong, while sharing a Coke with a number of Super Eagles players, during a quick Coca-cola ball signing session. Executive, Standard Chartered, Bill Winters, “Liverpool FC is one of the world’s best-known football clubs and we are proud to be associated with them. It is a fantastic club that shares many of our values and is hugely popular across our global footprint. Our partnership has provided valuable support to the charitable initiatives close to our hearts and has helped us to further engage with our clients and staff as well as with LFC fans. We are excited to be able to continue this partnership, and look forward to building on our successful relationship.”