Helen Okus (in blue) competing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where she won a silver medal with a broken neck
The second Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Wrestling Tournament in Jalandhar, India has been concluded with Nigeria finishing with three silver medals, all of them coming from the female members of the Nigerian contingent.
Eight wrestlers - four women and an equal number of men - took part in the tournament which had 300 wrestlers, representing 20 nations, competing for honours.
First to claim a silver medal for Nigeria was Hannah Reuben who on Friday lost in the women's 67 kilograms weight class to an opponent from Japan.
The final day of competition, Saturday, saw Blessing Oborodudu, in the 63 kilograms class, and two-time World Championship bronze medallist Ifeoma Iheanacho, in the 72 kilogram category, claiming silver medals as well after both lost to Indian wrestlers.
Could have been better
"It was a good performance but it could have been better had we been fully prepared for the tournament," Daniel Igali, the technical adviser of the Nigerian team said.
Igali, who did not travel to India with owing to domestic matters, added: "From my telephone discussions with Damian Ohaike, the technical director of the Nigeria wrestling federation and Tony Obaka, who are with the team in India, I was made to understand that both Blessing and Ifeoma could have won their bouts had they been in top shape.
"But that's why they are all in India. And I'm sure by the time they are through with their training in India, everyone of them, both the guys and the ladies, will be a handful for anyone they come up against." The Nigerian team will remain in India for another fortnight training with their Indian counterparts before returning home as part of their preparations for next year's Olympic Games.
India, with four teams on parade, emerged overall winners at the end of the three-day tournament with nine gold, six silver and 11 bronze medals.
The tournament was staged in honour of the legendary Indian freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh who was executed in 1931 by the British colonial government for shooting a police officer in response to the killing of another Indian freedom fighter Lajpat Lai.
Source:234next
Eight wrestlers - four women and an equal number of men - took part in the tournament which had 300 wrestlers, representing 20 nations, competing for honours.
First to claim a silver medal for Nigeria was Hannah Reuben who on Friday lost in the women's 67 kilograms weight class to an opponent from Japan.
The final day of competition, Saturday, saw Blessing Oborodudu, in the 63 kilograms class, and two-time World Championship bronze medallist Ifeoma Iheanacho, in the 72 kilogram category, claiming silver medals as well after both lost to Indian wrestlers.
Could have been better
"It was a good performance but it could have been better had we been fully prepared for the tournament," Daniel Igali, the technical adviser of the Nigerian team said.
Igali, who did not travel to India with owing to domestic matters, added: "From my telephone discussions with Damian Ohaike, the technical director of the Nigeria wrestling federation and Tony Obaka, who are with the team in India, I was made to understand that both Blessing and Ifeoma could have won their bouts had they been in top shape.
"But that's why they are all in India. And I'm sure by the time they are through with their training in India, everyone of them, both the guys and the ladies, will be a handful for anyone they come up against." The Nigerian team will remain in India for another fortnight training with their Indian counterparts before returning home as part of their preparations for next year's Olympic Games.
India, with four teams on parade, emerged overall winners at the end of the three-day tournament with nine gold, six silver and 11 bronze medals.
The tournament was staged in honour of the legendary Indian freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh who was executed in 1931 by the British colonial government for shooting a police officer in response to the killing of another Indian freedom fighter Lajpat Lai.
Source:234next
No comments:
Post a Comment