Basketball and handball have remained the only teams raising hope of Ogun State to qualify at the ongoing South-West Zonal Elimination for the 6th National Youth Games slated for University of Ilorin, Kwara State in October.
The 3 by 3 basketball players having shown their resilience to qualify for the national event won their first two matches against Oyo and Osun by 9/3, 8.6 respectively on Thursday, while Ondo and Lagos were also beating by 7/0, and 6/5 too on Friday.
With this results, the team is a step closer to qualifying for the youth games in Ilorin when they play host to Ekiti basketball team in their last match scheduled for later in the day.
Also, handball girls having learnt from their slim 16/17 defeat to Lagos girls on Thursday, came back stronger on Friday against Ekiti girls with a convincing 17/10, thus raised hope of qualifying if they win their last match with Oyo girls later in the day too.
However, it was a bad experience as the football team lost by a lone goal to Osun State in their second Group A match played on Friday at Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort stadium, Akanran, Ibadan.
With this development, the Ogun boys were already out of the qualification race despite winning their first game against Ondo by one goal on Thursday, but lost out in the second game.
By this defeat, Osun has topped the group and qualified to play in the final with winner in Group B comprises of Oyo, Ekiti and Lagos.
In the same vein, Ogun volleyball team lost two straight sets to Oyo boys in their third match played this morning, while they won their last game with Ekiti boys by two straight sets of 25/3, 25/15.
Moreover, the victory over Ekiti was not enough to secure the lone ticket, as they were second behind the host,Oyo boys who won their four games and picked the maximum points to qualify for the zone
Meanwhile, the hockey, cricket, and beach volleyball were out of the elimination already as they met a stiff opposition from their opponents at the event.
