Nigerian wrestler, Odunayo Adekuoroye showed the world what she aims to achieve at next month’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after she claimed gold medal in the women’s 57kg at the Poland Open Ranking Series in Warsaw.
After edging out some of the finest wrestlers in the world, Adekuoroye was awarded the gold after her Belarusian opponent Iryna Kuraurachkina forfeited the final match following injury she sustained during her semifinal fight.
In the quarter final match against world and Olympic champion American Helen Maroulis, the Nigeria champion avenged her two previous losses as she chalked out a shutout 13-0 win over Maroulis.
Adekuoroye dominated the bout beating her opponent with a minute and 32 seconds remaining.
Unfazed by her opponent’s stardom, Adekuoroye paced the bout and both wrestlers waited for an opening for the first two minutes of the bout. But there was none. The USA wrestler gave up a point for passivity as well.
Another Nigerian top wrestler, Blessing Oborududu settled for silver after losing by points to France’s Koumba Selene Fanta Larroque in the women’s 68kg in Warsaw.
The 10-time African champion fought her way from the first round to the final with excellent display taking down some of the best fighters in her weight category but she met a stiff resistance from the French woman who defeated her 3-0 for the Nigerian to settle for silver in what could be described as a dress rehearsal to next month’s rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
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