Team Akwa Ibom has picked the first gold medal in Judo in Day 1 of the ongoing National Youth Games (NYG) in Ilorin, Kwara state.
Judo
Ubong Bassey ably defeated Delta’s Uwanne Chukwuemeka in the boys 36kg Judo final to pick the historic win for Akwa Ibom state. Delta’s Chidiebube Ogunedo and Bayelsa’s Shawn Julius, won bronze medals.
In the girl’s 32kg Judo category, Boluwatife Akinsola of Ekiti state defeated Bayelsa’s Newlucky Job to win the gold medal. Favour Oyemidu (Rivers) and Miracle Ezealo (Bayelsa) won both bronze medals.
In the wrestling event, Bayelsa and Sokoto picked the gold medal in the women’s 54kg and 42kg girls category respectively, while Helen Peter (Delta) took home the silver.
Rivers and Lagos state won both bronze medals in the 42kg wrestling event.
After day 1, team Akwa Ibom occupies the top of the medals table with one gold and one bronze medal, Ekiti state is a close second with one gold medal, while Delta state is in the third position with only a silver and bronze medal.
If team Akwa Ibom is able to maintain its lead till the end of the competition, they’ll have succeeded in defeating defending champions, Delta State, who won the last edition of the games with 21 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze medals, while Akwa Ibom settled for second place with 16 gold, 15 silver and 15 bronze medals.
