The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2015 African Games

  • African Games gold medallist eyes national, world records

     

    Ulunma Nwanaga, a gold medallist at the 2015 African Games, says she has her eyes set on

    creating a national and world record in Javelin throw.

    “My dream is to set national and world records. I know to some people it sounds impossible but

    to me it is possible with God and hard work.

    “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me and also the expectations of the

    righteous can never be cut off.

    “So, if my expectation is to get the records and to fly the country’s flag, He will do it for

    me,’’ Nwanaga told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

    The athlete said that her target was beyond the International Association of Athletics

    Federations (IAAF) World Championships.

    “My target is to get a very good distance that will take me beyond world championship because I

    know that the world championship is not the only event this year,’’ she added.

    The 21-year-old Javelin thrower said that part of her target for the 2017 season was to be the

    best at the leagues and All Nigeria Championships.

    Nwanaga said she would take all Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) programmes serious to

    ensure an outstanding performance that would ensure her selection for international

    competitions.

    “Most times, league results are used in making selections, and like I said before, I will put in

    my best and take all competitions serious including the All Nigeria championship,’’ she said.

    Asked about not given the needed recognition, Nwanaga said she was optimistic that with

    consistency and hardwork, she would be celebrated.

    “As for not being celebrated, I am not bothered about it because I know that when the right time

    comes, they will not have any option but to celebrate the event.

    “And javelin is going to be the number one event through me at any competition, that is my other

    target,’’ she said.

    NAN reports that Nwanaga threw 52.70m ahead of Ghana’s Mery Zuta, who threw 50.93m and South

    Africa’s Jo Ane Van Dyk’s 50.52m at the African Games in Brazzaville.

  • ITTF Championships: Egypt quakes over Toriola’s arrival

    ITTF Championships: Egypt quakes over Toriola’s arrival

    The arrival of Segun Toriola in Morocco late on Monday has thrown Egypt into technical confusion at the ongoing ITTF African Senior Championships holding in Agadir, Morocco.

    Prior to the arrival of Toriola, who is regarded as the most successful table tennis player in the continent, the Egyptians were relieved that they would have an easy ride over Nigeria with only Aruna Quadri as the only threat in the team.

    But late on Monday, when the North African heard about the arrival of Toriola, their camp has been thrown into confusion with some of their players describing it as a huge challenge for them to reclaim their title in the men’s team event.

    Even some of the Egyptian coaches were eager to make an enquiry about the players that would be presenting for the tournament while they took their time to size up Nigerian players like Olajide Omotayo, Nurudeen Hassan and Jamiu Azeez.

    They were also convinced that they would have a smooth win over the Nigerians after watching the West African team sweating hard to defeat Tunisia 3-1 in their group match on Monday.

    One of the most experienced players in the Egyptian team, Ahmed Saleh told NationSport that Toriola is a dangerous player with a lot of experience, adding that Toriola’s present form might pose a lot of problem to them in the team event.

    The Egyptian team are eager to reclaim their title after losing the men’s team title to Nigeria at the 2015 African Games.

  • 2015 African Games: Nigeria’s medal haul hits 57

    2015 African Games: Nigeria’s medal haul hits 57

    Team Nigeria medals’ haul has increased to 57 overall after table tennis and beach volleyball received  two medals at the ongoing 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville.

    From the events concluded on Sunday, Team Nigeria has won 15 gold, 23 silver and 19 bronze medals to be among the top contenders at the multi-sports championship.

    Despite losing the gold medal title to Egypt in the women’s team event of table tennis, Nigeria inspired by Africa’s most decorated player, Segun Toriola reclaimed the men’s title from their arch-rival, Egypt with a 3-2 win.

    The final between the two best playing nations in the continent lived up to expectations as Toriola in his usual element stunned current Africa’s best player, Omar Assar to give Nigeria hope of reclaiming the title they surrendered to the North African in 2011.

    Also, the women beach volleyball team dazed their South Africa counterpart with a 2-1 win to claim gold.

    Two judokas, Fatima Bashir and Franca Audu settled for bronze medals in the women’s 48kg and 52kg respectively while women triple jump in athletics fetched Team Nigeria a silver medal.

    Meanwhile, more medals are expected to be won by Team Nigeria as the tournament enters it final week.

  • AAG: Agu-Ogoke looks beyond Brazzaville

    AAG: Agu-Ogoke looks beyond Brazzaville

    As the first Nigerian female boxer to feature at the Olympic Games, Edith Ogoke-Agu is looking beyond the forthcoming 2015 African Games (AAG) after making the 13-man team to the Central African nation.

    In her first bout at the 2012 London Olympics, debutant Agu-Ogoke pummeled Azerbaijan’s Elena Vystropova to secure a place in the second round where she met her waterloo against experienced Russia’s Nadezda Torlopova.

    But the disappointment at the London Olympics inspired Agu-Ogoke to clinch bronze medal at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland.

    Agu-Ogoke (75kg) who is among the three boxers selected for the multi-sports championship in Brazzaville told NationSport that going for the African Games serves as preparation for her determination to become the first female boxer to win an Olympics medal.

    “I am optimistic going to Brazzaville and I know I will pick a medal but my main priority is the Olympics and this is what is in my mind. I am happy making the team because it was not that easy making the final cut especially with the emergence of some new boxers. African Games for me is just a stepping stone to my dream which is to go to Rio Olympics and win medal,” she said.

    Despite the inability of the team to feature at the African Championship in Morocco as well as embark on training tour, Agu-Ogoke believes this would not rub off on the performance of the team in Brazzaville. “I don’t think not going for training tour and not competing at the African Championship would not really affect our performance in Brazzaville. With the kind of training we have had coupled with the spirit in camp, we will surely do well as a team. We are also praying to God to crown our efforts with medals,” the African champion said.

    Agu-Ogoke, who attributed her early exit in London to experience said: “I am a better boxer in terms of experience because I cannot easily forget the London Olympics early exit. My mind is now on the gold medal in Rio and that is my priority for now. For now, it is the Olympic Games medal that is my target and I hope to right the wrong I committed in London when I get to Rio in 2016,” she boasted.

    10 males and three females made the boxing team to the 11th African Games with bronze medalist at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games with Efetobor Apochi, and Efe Ajagba leading the male boxers to the games.

    Apochi, the 2011 African Games silver medalist will compete in the men’s 91kg and will be joined in the men’s category by another medalist, Ajagba who will jostle for medal in the +91kg.

    Other members of the 10-man male team are Muyideen Oyakojo (49kg), Lukman Oluwagbade (52kg), Yinka Yusuf (56kg), Kazeem Soyoye (60kg), Waidi Sogbamu (64kg), Femi Oyeleke (69kg) and Korede Adeniji (75kg).

    Aside Agu-Ogoke (75kg), other female boxers in the team are African champion, Kehinde Obareh (60kg) and Caroline Linus (51kg).

  • 2015 African Games: Chukwumerije to lead taekwondo team

    2015 African Games: Chukwumerije to lead taekwondo team

    2011 African Games gold medalist and captain of Team Nigeria, Uche Chukwumerije will lead 16-man taekwondo team to the 2015 African Games holding in Congo Brazzaville.

    Chukwumerije (+87kg), 2014 German Opens champion and elder brother of Beijing Olympics bronze medalist, Chika, has been included in the eight-man men’s team list released by the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) Wednesday.

    Also two Commonwealth gold medalists, Abubakar Adamu Isah (-54kg) and Mohammed Jamilu (-58kg) made the cut while 2011 African Games bronze medalist, Sunday Onofe (-80kg) is also included in the list.

    Other members of the men’s team are Edwin Samson Nduka (-63kg), Kolade Paul (-68kg), Olushola Segun (-74kg), and Ayodele Temitope Ebenezer (-87kg).

    The female eight-man team will be led by 2014 African Championship bronze medalist, Joy Ekhator (-49kg), who is the also the most experienced athlete among the women’s team.

    Others are Jimoh Morufat (-46kg), Chinazum Nwosu (-52kg), Fatimoh Abdullahi (-57kg), Ndu Vivian (-63kg), Ifeoma Dennis (-67kg), Uzoamaka Otuadinma (-73kg) and Esther Uzoukwu (+73kg).

    At the 2011 African Games in Mozambique, Nigeria finished fourth with two gold, one silver and seven bronze medals behind Egypt, Tunisia and Senegal which were top three teams in the taekwondo event.

    According to NTF President, George Ashiru, the team is capable of achieving the two gold medals target set by National Sports Commission (NSC) for the team.

    “We have selected the best nationally because they are the best in the country and what we need to do is just to expose them to international competitions. We had thought that we will be embarking of foreign tour before the games, but we have to make do with what we have and we are sure that we can achieve the target. We just need to rely on tactics and also work as a team at the games,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Nigeria will have their hands full at the 2015 Africa Games as Egypt, Tunisia, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and Gabon are the top ranked teams in Africa based on the latest rating released by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

    In the ranking of the eight weight categories released by WTF, athletes from Egypt dominated most of the rating while others were topped by athletes from Tunisia, Mali, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire as well as Niger Republic.

     

  • 2015 African Games: We won’t rely on players’ records-Akinloye

    2015 African Games: We won’t rely on players’ records-Akinloye

    To ensure that Nigeria finished beyond the third place overall in the tennis event of the 2011 edition, National coach, Rotimi Akinloye has said that past records of the players in camp would not be the yardstick in selecting the final list for the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville.

    With the ongoing trial holding in Abuja, Akinloye said some of the players have played two to three matches, adding that the technical crew would rely on present form coupled with other attributes to select the final eight made up of four men and four female for the games.

    “We started the trial last Friday and we have seen the qualities of the players. For now, we have been impressed with what we have seen and we are hoping that by Thursday, we should be able to name the final eight that will represent the country in Brazzaville. We are also aware that some of the invited players were part of the team to the 2011 edition in Mozambique but we are not going to consider their past performance and records in choosing the players. Our focus is on the present form of the players coupled with the temperament, style of play as well as tactical and technical depth,” he said.

    He however, said that the heavy downpour has disrupted some of the matches, saying that all the matches would be concluded by Thursday and the final list will be made known. “From the one gold, one silver and two bronze medals we won in 2011, I think we should be able to do better than that for us to move forward and in achieving this, we need quality players that can deliver. We hope that when the final eight emerges, we can now go into final phase of training to perfect everything before the commencement of the games on September 4,” Akinloye told Sportinglife.

    16 players including CBN Open Champions, Thomas Otu and Russia-born Melissa Ifidzhen are taking part in the trials.

    Others competing for places in the team are Henry Atseye, Sarah Adegoke, Moses Michael, Christian Paul, Onyeka Mbanu, Clifford Enosoregbe, Emmanuel Idoko, Candy Idoko, and Sylvester Emmanuel. Others in the female category are Christy Agugbom, Ronke Akingbade, Blessing Samuel and Anu Aiyegbusi.