The second edition of the Lagos International Badminton Classics will start July 15 and end July 18 at Mobolaji Johnson Indoor Sports Hall, Rower Park, Lagos.

The Vice-President of Nigeria Badminton Federation, Francis Orbih, who is also the chairman of Lagos State Badminton Association (LSBA), disclosed this to the public, recently.

CeoAfrica has learnt that, presently, about 28 countries have sent in their entries for the four-day competition which is geared towards creating an international exposure for home-grown talents who do not participate in international tournaments. Some of these countries include Ghana, Egypt, Austria, Poland, Russia, Germany, Ireland, England, Czech Republic, United States of America, Nigeria, among others.

According to the vice-president, “the first edition of the competition was greatly admired by the world body, and was equally adopted as an international tournament to avail local talents the opportunity to compete with foreigners.”

This tournament is open to both male and female players. Thus, players are expected to use this opportunity to improve on their world ranking and prepare for the All Africa Games that will come up later this year.

Sixteen countries participated in last year’s maiden edition which lasted for four days. The cash prize given was $10,000 (₦2 million); this year's is $15,000 (₦3 million).

The Vice-President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Babatunde Fatai Williams, has also said that he is very optimistic that this year’s championship will be better than last year's.

He then praised the efforts of the association at promoting the sport, urging other sportas sociations in Nigeria to emulate badminton association.