Nigeria’s Eniola Bolaji won a silver medal yesterday at the 2026 British & Irish Para Badminton International.
The Paralympic bronze and World championship silver medallist lost 2-0 (21-18, 23-21) to Japan’s Shino Kawai in the SL3 women’s singles final at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena in Dublin.
Bolaji enjoyed an impressive run to the final, recording wins over India’s Neeraj 2-0 (21-15, 21-3) and France’s Milena Surreau 2-0 (21-19, 21-13) during the group stage.
The multiple African champion continued her dominant form by defeating Türkiye’s Halime Yildiz 2-0 (21-16, 21-7) in the quarter-finals before cruising past Australia’s Celine Vinot 2-0 (21-7, 21-9) in the semi-finals.
An elated President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, praised Eniola Bolaji for another outstanding performance on the international stage.
Orbih described her display in Dublin as fantastic and expressed confidence that the Nigerian star has what it takes to defeat Shino Kawai in future competitions.
He revealed that the federation is already working on plans to secure overseas training programme aimed at helping Bolaji close the gap with Shino who dethroned her as world number 1. Orbih said:
“It was a fantastic performance and I am very happy with what Eniola achieved. I am motivated to intensify efforts to ensure she trains outside the country because it is only a matter of time before she starts beating the Japanese player, Shino Kawai.
“I have congratulated her for setting the tone once again, and we are looking forward to arranging a three-month training tour abroad to further improve her game.”
Orbih also commended the support the federation received from the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Badminton Confederation Africa (BCA) while acknowledging the sponsorship of Yonex, and GIG Logistics toward the athlete’s development.
He expressed optimism that with sustained support and international exposure, Bolaji will continue to challenge for major titles ahead of future global competitions.