Glasgow 2014 GOLD medallist Odunayo Adekuoroye recently made history by becoming the first Nigerian to qualify for the final of an event at the Senior Wrestling World Championships, and eventually won Silver in the women’s 55kg category on August 23rd.
The Championship which commenced on August 21st, is currently holding in Paris, France, and will end on Sunday, the 27th.
Adekuoroye, who won a Bronze medal at the 2015 edition of the championships in Las Vegas and came to Paris as the World No.1 in the 55kg category, faced Japan’s Haruna Okuno in the final and lost 5-4 to her rival.
However, she is the first Nigerian to win a World Championships Silver medal. Also, Adekuoroye and Tunisia’s Marwa Amri (58kg category) made history by becoming the first set of women from the continent to get to the final of the World Championships, with the duo also claiming Silver medals on the same day.
The Ondo State wrestler started her campaign by defeating Mathilde Riviere 13-9 in the qualification round, and then advanced to the Round of 16 where she handed Czech Republic’s Lenka Hockova a 10-0 defeat.
She then overpowered Erkhembayaryn Davaachimeg with an 8-4 victory in the quarterfinal, before dominating Iryna Kurachkina of Belarus 10-0 in the semis to qualify for the final.
Meanwhile, another Nigerian Blessing Oborududu competed in the women’s 63kg category where she got to the quarterfinal before being defeated by Mongolia’s Pürevdorjiin Orkhon 10-2.
She won a repechage (11-3) against Henna Johansson of Sweden and finished 5th overall.
Reigning Commonwealth Champion in the women’s 58kg, Aminat Adeniyi who is also competing in the World Championships for the first time, got to the quarterfinals and was narrowly beaten 4-3 by Aisuluu Tynybekova.
Mercy Genesis also made her debut at the World Championships and fought in the women’s 48kg category, exiting the competition in the Round of 32 where she was beaten 16-8 by Miglena Selishka of Bulgaria.
The male wrestlers on the team, Amas Daniel (65kg) and John Emmanuel (70kg) will take to their mats on Saturday, August 26th.
Nigeria currently occupies 13th position on the medals table courtesy of Adekuoroye’s Silver medal, and will host the 2018 edition of the Africa Wrestling Championships.
