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AFRICA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP: NIGERIA SHINES IN FREESTYLE, NORTH AFRICANS RULE GRECO ROMAN

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Ondo State athletes representing Nigeria on Wednesday recorded a good start in the Africa Wrestling Championship which started at the Alfred Diette Spiff Events Centre, Port Harcourt.
The cadet events saw Nigeria’s  Esther Kolawole winning gold in the freestyle event while Christiana Ogunsanya and Mercy Adekuoroye have qualified for the semifinal stage of their respective events.
Mercy, the younger sister of Odunayo Adekuoroye, is tipped to also win gold in the African Wrestling Championship. However, Sunmisola Balogun, another Nigerian wrestler won two bouts to qualify for the final in her cadet event on Wednesday.

She defeated her Moroccan opponent, Taibi C. 10-0 on technical superiority
Coach, Purity Akuh, told journalists that he was impressed with the good start recorded by the Ondo State’s athletes and Nigeria at the championship
Akuh said: “This is a big stage, some of the wresters are young and jittery but somehow they have generally done well.
“We expect the country will do well in the junior event and the senior level in the days ahead of this big championship.”
The male cadet wrestlers are expected to be in action from Thursday while the seniors will take to the mats on February and Saturday respectively.
However, the hosts have been largely dominated by their North African counterparts especially in the Greco-Roman category.

Also Peter Ukoro (55kg) is through to the semifinal while Damilola Gabriel (51kg) will be fighting for a bronze medal after losing in the semifinal to Ahmed Fouad Baghdouda 10-2.
The ongoing African Wrestling Championship is being sponsored fully by the Rivers State Government with Governor Nyesom Wike footing the bills of the Nigerian contingent from the preparatory stage till date.

 

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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