Celebrated Nigeria Heyball (a.k.a Chinese 8 Ball Pool) players Adegbite Aderibigbe and Babatunde Rasheed a.k.a Tarton have qualified to participate in the 2024 Joy Heyball Masters Grand Final’s Nigeria Qualifier that started on Tuesday 6th February 2024 at Nicon town Recreation Center, Lekki.
11 top players registered to feature in the 2024 Joy Heyball Masters Grand Final’s Nigeria Qualifier’s Limited organized by the Snooker and Pool Players Alliance in partnership with FIJI Ventures Limited, Nigeria representative to Joy Billiards Sports Promotion Company China.
Amongst the participants included Adekunle Adabayo winner of the recently held Heyball Challenge Tour event one, Christopher Abiodun a.k.a Emiratae who featured in the Dubai Open Chinese 8 ball Pool in 2022, Waliu Nojeem, Babatunde Rasheed and Adegbite Aderigigbe who featured in the Joy Heyball Masters’ Div One Event 3 in China that held in August. Bamidele Shehu and Toyin Azeez pulled out of the event.
The event featured 4 groups with 3 players each playing in a race to 5 matchup. In group 1 we had Babatunde Rasheed and Adekunle Adebayo with one slot on Bye. In group 2 Nsikak David, Waliu Nojeem and Lawani Nosayaba. In group 3 Igwe Orji, Abiodun Christopher and Adekunle Macarthy. In group 4 Bamidele Shehu, Adegbite Aderibigbe and Animashaun Damilola.
In the round robin preliminary round, Babatunde Rasheed beat Adekunle Adebayo 5 – 2 thereby giving him automatic qualification into the semifinals stage since the third slot was a bye. Waliu Nojeem qualified out of group 2 with all 3 point as he beat both his opponent Nsikak David and Lawani Nosayaba, 5 – 4 and 5 – 3 respectively.
Group 3, Igwe Orji qualified with the least point difference thereby topping the group of death as all the players ended with 1 point each having won one match and lost one match.
With Bamidele Shehu withdrawing his participation just minutes to the commencement of his match against Adegbite Aderibigbe which made the group a straight fight between Animashaun Damilola that ended 5 – 0 in favour of Adegbite.
The semifinals playoff stage featured matches between the winner of group 1 matching up against winner of group 2 and winner of group 3 meeting winner of group 4.
Adegbite Aderibigbe beat Igwe Orji 9-6 in the race to 9 first semi-final while Waliu Nojeem was almost walked over and became a no match for Babatunde Rasheed in the second semifinal match that ended 9 – 4.
Prior to the commencement of the event asentv.tv conducted a chat interview with some of the participants about their interest in Pool and expectation from the event. Below are some exerts from their response.
“This is Mr Waliu Pool player: I enjoy playing pool, it’s part of my life. Pool is one of my hobbies, it gives me joy and I feel so excited anytime I am playing pool.
What I want to archive with this qualifier, I see this qualifier as an opportunity to meet with different pool players around the world. I want to gain more experience, I see this qualifier as a challenge, an opportunity to learn more and see how pool is played outside Nigeria” – says Waliu Nojeem .
“Pool is Life to me. It contributed to my huge success and help me focus and build focus in all I do and love professional PLAY.
What I seek to achieve in JOY heyball masters? I seek to use the Heyball platform to build a huge pool career and become one of the best players in the world.” – says Nsikak David
“Pool is a fun game that allows to mentally engage my brain. I enjoy playing pool as a hobby and sport because it feels like a meditation practice for me. When I play pool I forget about everything for a while and just focus on the balls and the way they move. It is a smooth and gentleman’s game
What am I participating in the qualifiers? I intend to showcase my skills against other top players and to represent Nigeria in China in the Heyball competition this year” – Lawani Nosayaba.
“it is nice having an opportunity to go to
Two participants are billed to travel to China to participate 2024 Joy Heyball Masters Grand Final’s holding from March 16th to April 3rd in the prestigious Qinhuangdao Olympic Center in the city of Qinhuagdao, Hebei province, China.
2024 JOY HEYBALL MASTERS GRAND FINAL’S NIGERIA QUALIFIER’S
Group 1
Babatunde Rasheed
Adekunle Adebayo
Group 2
Nsikak David
Waliu Nojeem
Lawani Nosayaba
Group 3
Igwe Orji
Abiodun Christopher
Adekunle Macarthy
Group 4
Bamiidele Shehu
Adegbite Aderibigbe
Animashaun Damilola.
Results
Preliminary Round
Format: Round Robin
Race to 5
Group 1
Babatunde Rasheed vs Adekunle Adebayo 5 – 2
Group 2
Nsikak David vs Waliu Nojeem 5 – 2
Waliu Nojeem vs Lawani Nosayaba 5 – 3
Lawani Nosayaba vs Nsikak David 5 – 1
Group 3
Igwe Orji vs Abiodun Christopher 5 – 4
Abiodun Christopher vs Adekunle Macarthy 5 – 1
Igwe Orji vs Adekunle Macarthy 5 – 1
Semifinal/Playoffs
Race to 9
Semi’s 1st
Winner 1 vs Winner 2
Babatunde Rasheed vs Waliu Nojeem 9 – 4
Semi’s 2nd
Winner 3 vs Winner 4
Igwe Orji vs Adegbite Aderibigbe 9 – 6
