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Team Nigeria, on Saturday, won a record 9th consecutive title in Women’s Wrestling at the African Championships, claiming 6 gold and 4 silver medals on a day that Commonwealth champions, Odunayo Adekuoroye (57kg) and Blessing Oborududu (68kg) both rose to World No. 1 and 2 respectively in the global rankings.
Mercy Genesis (50kg), teen sensation, Esther Kolawole (55kg); Adekuoroye, Bisola Makunjuola (59kg), Hannah Reuben (65kg) and Oborududu, who won a 10th straight African title in a row, were all impressive as they accounted for Nigeria’s gold medals, while defending champions, Blessing Onyebuchi (76kg) and teenager Sunmisola Balogun, who moved up to 72kg from 65kg, as well as former champions, Aminat Adeniyi (62kg) and Bose Samuel (53kg) settled for silver.
With the top ranking at stake, Adekuoroye made light work of her three opponents, culminating in a 10-0 technical superiority victory against Egyptian No. 12 in the 59kg class, Eman Ebrahim in the final, after beating same foe by pinfall in the opening round. The African Championship gold gave her 18pts, catapulting her to the top of the rankings at 57kg with 61 points, one clear of former No. 1, Kawai Risako of Japan (60pts). Risako can reclaim top spot during the Asian Championships later this month in India.
Oborududu, who began the year as No. 7 at 68kg, climbed to No. 3 with a bronze medal win at last month’s Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series tournament in Rome before coming to Algeria. And with emphatic 10-0 technical superiority wins against her four opponents – Drifa Arezki (Algeria), Anta Sambou (Senegal), Mona Reda Ahmed (Egypt) and Rihem Ayari (Tunisia) – she moved to a career-high 2nd in the rankings with 48points, 26 behind world champion, Tamyra Mensah (USA) and 8 clear of Sweden’s Maria Fransson in third.
