Commonwealth Champion Odunayo Adekuruoye made light work of Patience Kakata of Bayelsa State to claim gold in the final of the 57kg freestyle event at the on-going Governor Wike National Wrestling Championships in Port Harcourt.

Adekuoroye, a World Silver medalist, defeated Kakata via technical superiority in less than a minute.

The Ondo-born wrestler, who was recently voted Sports Woman of the Year by the Nigeria Sports Awards, told www.busybuddiesng.com she did not underrate her opponent, even as she promised to be ready for the African Championships which will be staged in Port Harcourt in February.

“I don’t underrate anyone; everyone has come here to put in their best but I believe I’m above this competition,” she said.

“I’m so much prepared for the African tournament and I believe that after this competition, in a very short while, we will enter camp. We will be in camp and we’ll have a good preparation.”

In the same vein, Commonwealth gold-medalist Aminat Adeniyi of Ondo State also overcame her opponent Esther Ayodele of the Nigeria Police to clinch gold in the 62kg class.

Adeniyi, who stepped up from 58 to 62kg, also told www.busybuddiesng.com after her victory that she has been training in the new weight category.

“Actually, I’ve trained for the new weight category. So, it was not that hard,” she informed. “I’ve already prepared for the 62kg and that was why I was able to win the Gold today (Wednesday).”

Also on Wednesday, 7-time African Champion Blessing Oborodudu needed less than 40 sec to beat Yanyangbini Keketobou of Lagos State via technical superiority in the final of the 68kg category.

Oborodudu says her victory was down to regular training, even as she thanked the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike for sponsoring the competition.

“It was easy because when you are training, as a champion, you need to maintain your name and train. So, it was an easy one for me,” the Bayelsa –born wrestler said. “The secret is training.

“This competition is very good and we are thanking the Governor of Rivers State (Nyesom Wike) and the President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (Daniel Igali) for making it happen.”

Mercy Genesis of Bayelsa State (50kg), Blessing Onyebuchi of Edo State (76kg), Hannah Reuben of the Nigeria Army (65kg), Ondo State’s pair of Bisola Makunjuola (59kg) and Bose Samuel (53kg), Ifeoma Nwoye (55kg) of Anambra State and Bayelsa’s Kemasodei Dressman (72kg) all won gold medals.

Speaking at the end of competition on Wednesday, President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation Daniel Igali expressed satisfaction with the standard of the competition so far.

“I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen so far,” Igali remarked.

“There has been very keen competition, a lot of new entrants to the sport but a lot of feisty wrestling that I’ve seen and I just hope that the finale will also have the same bearing.”

The male freestyle wrestlers will take to the mats on Thursday as the one-week competition comes to an end.

MEDALS TABLE:

Gold Silver Bronze
Bayelsa 12 16 16
Ondo 12 4 4
Lagos 6 1 3
Delta 5 6 8
MFM WC 5 1 2
Cross River 4 4 5
Rivers 4 4 4