Winners have emerged in the South-West and South-East zonal qualifiers ahead of this year’s Nigeria Cricket Federation National U-17 Championships for boys and girls, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The South-West and South-East zonal eliminations took place simultaneously at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Owerri Government Secondary School in Owerri, Imo State.
In Abeokuta, Ekiti State emerged winners in the female category, followed by Lagos State in second place and hosts Ogun State in third.
Lagos State topped the male category ahead of Oyo State in second, while Ogun State finished third.
In the South-East zone, Ebonyi State emerged winners in the female category, ahead of Anambra State in second and Abia State in third.
Ebonyi and Anambra States also finished on the podium in the male category but were beaten to the top spot by Imo State. Ebonyi settled for second, while Anambra finished third.
The pathway to the national finals became clearer as the qualifiers continued across the other four zones on Wednesday.
Attention shifted to the North-West zone, with matches scheduled in Kaduna, while Adamawa will host teams in the North-East.
Qualifying matches in the South-South zone will be held in Edo State, while the North-Central qualifiers will take place at the twin cricket ovals of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium (Package B) in Abuja.
The qualifiers will run until March 1, with the best players from all 36 states expected to represent their respective zones at the main tournament in Abuja.
“The National U-17 Championship is the biggest age-grade tournament in Nigeria and West Africa. It serves as a platform to identify the next generation of national team players for the country,” the Nigeria Cricket Federation said in a statement last Thursday when it announced the commencement of the qualifiers.
“Proudly, the current senior men’s and women’s national teams are made up of 70 per cent of players who have passed through this system, while 100 per cent of the national U-19 players in both male and female categories are products of this tournament.”
The National U-17 Championship has remained a key pathway for discovering new cricket talent in the country, with several alumni representing Nigeria at the last edition of the ICC Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup in Malaysia.
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