The 2022 National Sports Festival continued with lots of activities but had a sigh of relief as Zamfara State dealt with a health scare from one of its athletes.
Daniel Otunoye was set to compete in a Taekwondo bout and collapsed before it began. It required the attention of the medics who revived him back to his conscious state.
In one of the big events of days, Edo State equalled the world record in Para-Powerlifting after Kafilat Almaruf lifted 145kg in the 73kg category, a record she first set at the 2022 African Championship in Cairo a few months back. Before her record on Sunday, she had lifted 138kg and 142kg which are National Sports Festival records.
Tolulope Taiwo also of Edo took silver in the Men’s 88kg Para-Powerlifting category. It didn’t end there for Edo as Daniel Omogbai took gold in the men’s 107kg category.
In Para-Table Tennis, the duo of Tomide Olowe and Blessing won bronze in the Class 3 mixed doubles category, while Faith Obazuaye, and Eghosa Osaigbovo claimed another bronze in the In Class 10 mixed doubles event.
In women’s Para-Athletics 100m, Oluwakemi Ladipo won gold for Bayelsa, Chika Awereme, silver for Delta State and Happiness Nnamdi picking up bronze for Rivers State. Shefiu Ojeleye won gold in the men’s category of the same event for Delta, Aina Dawodu took silver for Lagos and Sunday Adesina of Ogun State picked the bronze.
The Imo State women’s football team booked a semi-final berth after seeing off Bayelsa 1-0. On the men’s side Delta claimed a 4-1 victory over Abia State to progress to the semi-finals.
In men’s volleyball, Kano State defeated Borno State in the men’s volleyball 3-1(25-20, 19-25, 25-10, 25-20) while Edo beat Katsina State 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-14). On the women’s side, Oyo State defeated Nasarawa State 3-0.
In handball, Oyo moved to semi-finals with a 22-16 win over Rivers State in the women’s category. While the state also moved to the final in men’s cricket.
