Abia State has strengthened its standing as the house of Teqball in Nigeria after efficiently internet hosting the 2026 Teqball World Championship Qualifiers on the Aba Sports Club 1926, with 5 gold medal-winning entries securing qualification to symbolize Nigeria on the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The qualifiers, which attracted over 60 teqers from 14 states, featured matches throughout males’s and girls’s singles, males’s and girls’s doubles, and blended doubles, with athletes battling for the chance to compete on the international championship in December.
Delta State emerged general greatest, topping the medals desk with 3 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. Its number-one teqer, Victor Oyemade, underlined his dominance with victory over fellow Delta participant Mikel Enebechukwu within the males’s singles remaining, successful 12-8, 12-5 to assert the title and a Budapest ticket.
Delta’s Rejoice Jatau emerged girls’s singles champion after defeating compatriot Efemena Ekeke 12-8, 12-7, whereas within the blended doubles remaining, Oyemade and Jatau mixed to defeat Abia State’s Ihiedioha McBlaise and Mariam Abdulasheed 12-4, 12-10, finishing one other gold for Delta.
Host Abia State completed second with 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze, with the ladies’s doubles title going to Aganmuyi Omokehinde and Mariam Abdulasheed who overcame Efemena Ekeke and Miracle Edafe of Delta 12-10, 12-9.
Rivers State additionally secured a championship ticket via Joshua Musa and Ikoko Andrew, who defeated Abia’s Khalid Yahyah and Tobi Mejedji in three units, 8-12, 12-5, 12-9, to win the boys’s doubles title.
Rivers completed third with 1 gold and three bronze medals, whereas Lagos State received a bronze medal.
The 5 gold medal-winning entries will now symbolize Nigeria on the 2026 Teqball World Championships in Budapest from December 1st to sixth, the place they’ll compete in opposition to the world’s greatest gamers.
Speaking on the occasion, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Sir Nwaobilor Ananaba, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Jane Igwe, congratulated the winners and thanked Governor Alex Otti for his willpower to develop every kind of sports activities in Abia.
The President of the Nigeria Teqball Federation, Habu Gumel, represented by the Federation’s Vice President and Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Mr. Ndudi Edede, described Abia’s internet hosting as a big milestone within the continued improvement and promotion of Teqball in Nigeria.
Gumel famous that Abia had change into the one state to host consecutively the World Teqball Championship Qualifiers and the maiden version of the National Teqball League in March 2026, and the one state that had bought and donated Teqball tools to help the event of the game.
“It is therefore not out of place to say that Abia, presently, is home of Teqball in Nigeria,” he acknowledged, urging different states to emulate Governor Otti’s dedication to sports activities improvement and youth empowerment.
He expressed appreciation to the 69th President of Aba Sports Club, Chief Nkene Enukeme and members of the administration committee for offering a typical venue.
He additional famous that the competitors supplied an vital platform for locating skills, strengthening aggressive constructions and getting ready Nigerian athletes for larger challenges on the worldwide stage.
“We encourage you to prepare diligently for the next stage. To those who did not qualify this time, do not be discouraged. Every competition is an opportunity to learn, improve and come back stronger,” Gumel acknowledged.
The Abia State Director of Sports, Comrade Obioma George, counseled Governor Otti for creating an enabling surroundings for sports activities to thrive, and urged youths to reap the benefits of the introdu…
