Grapevine

I can win olympic medal – Opeyori

I first got involved in badminton when I went to the Sports Council in Rowe Park in 2005, and a coach came to us when I was playing football with my brother. He introduced badminton to us, and it started from curiosity, and that was what sparked my interest, and one thing about badminton is that it is addictive. So, once you start playing it, you will not want to leave it, and I just got connected with it, and that was it.

Can you describe the early stages of your early journey to becoming one of Nigeria’s top badminton players?

My journey in badminton was a tough one. I did not experience very good players. The only time I experienced a proper badminton game was in 2012, when I went to a tournament in Ilorin. That was when I met some national players playing, and that was the first time that I saw people playing on high intensity. Most of the games that I have seen before involved my seniors, and I used to believe that they were the best, but once I went to Ilorin, they all got knocked out in the first round. It was really tough because I had to train myself and build myself to the next level. Going from where I don’t have a shoe, I had to stay in a shop to train and sleep there in the shop. One of my coaches had a shop in Katsina. My brother and I slept in that shop so that we could train. And after that, I think we moved back to our place in Makoko. At a point we don’t really have money for food, so we will have to do abdominal workouts to just quench the hunger temporarily. When you do something like a workout, you get a new form of energy that will form in your body. So, the hunger will pause temporarily. It was a very tough journey.

What were some of the milestones you achieved?

I went to a tournament after six months of getting involved in the sport, and I won two bronze medals in Kogi in 2005. I was nine years old then and was playing against some teenagers above my level.