Another day for the Nigerian team to prove itself in the the ongoing
2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, came along but the team could do only so much as the only medals recorded were from the wrestling team’s colorful addition.
Wrestling
The wrestling event kicked off on Day 8 of the Games, and three Nigerian wrestlers each won a medal.
Blessing Onyebuchi won a Silver medal as she was unable to turn the tables on opponent, Erica Weibe who outmatched Blessing 4-2 in the final of the women’s 76kg Freestyle.
Nigeria had her first set of Bronze medals of the Games from duo Ebikewenimo Welson and Bose Samuel.
Welson was the last-man-standing from his bout with South Africa’s Jan Combrinck which ended 3-1 in favor of the Nigerian in the Men’s Freestyle 57kg.
Bose on the other hand dominated her opponent from Sri Lanka, Deepika Mudiyanselage 10-0 technical points (victory by fall) in the Women’s Freestyle 53kg Nordic System.
Track & Field
In Athletics, Riliwan was unable to make the race in time to win a deal for Nigeria as the sprinter placed 5th with a time of 49.80s. It was he same case for Glory Nathaniel who placed 6th with a time of 56.39s.
Tobi Amusa, however, had a totally different story to tell after Day 8’s event
. The 100m runner was first to cross the finish line in Heat 1 of the Women’s 100m huddles, running a Season’s Best (SB) of 12.37s to secure a spot in the final. Grace Ayemoba on the other hand placed 5th in Heat 2 with a running time of 13.59s.
In Field, Stephen Mozia finished 4th in Group B of the qualifying rounds and 6th across the board.
Table Tennis
In Table Tennis, the Nigerian team received a hit when
Segun Toriola had to retire from his round of 16 game due to a knee injury he sustained while playing.
However,
Aruna Quadri didn’t fail to impress with a stunner against Singapore’s Cue Jie Pang 4-1 (11-5, 8-11, 11-3, 11-3, 12-10) as he easily moved int the quarter final of the Men’s Table Tennis Singles.
In the men’s doubles event,
Nigerian Table Tennis pro-duo Aruna Quadri and Segun Toriola defeated their Malaysian opponents, Choong Javeen and Leong Chee 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-8 and 11-5) in the Round of 16 to proceed to the quarter final.
However the fate of the nation’s second double team was not as lustrous as the first, as team B which comprised of Bode Abiodun and Olajide Omotayo could not make it past England’s Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford, who put the game beyond the Nigerian men’s reach, 3-0 (7-11,8-11, 3-11).
In the
Women’s TT6-10 Group 2, Faith Obazuaye effortlessly breezed past Canada’s Stephanie Chan 3-0 (11-7, 11-5 and 11-9). Temitope Ogunsaya, however, flunked out of the competition on losing to Englishman, Ross Wilson 3-0 (11-2, 11-3, 11-3) in the Men’s TT6-10 Singles Group 2 Game 5.
