Sports
Africa Cup Track: Nigeria Leads Table With 21 Medals
Team Nigeria in day two of the African Cup Track have continued to dominate the Championship, winning 21 medals.
Tidesports source reports that Team Nigeria won eight gold, 10 silver and three bronze medals in twelve events at the weekend.
The 2019 Africa Cup Track Cycling is holding at the Velodrome of the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
In the Women Junior individual pursuit Tawakalt Yekeem won first Gold for Nigeria, Mary Samuel won Silver, and Salma Salahedin from Egypt won Bronze.
Also in Women Elite Individual pursuit, Ebstissam Zayed from Egypt won Gold , Ese Ukpeseraye from Nigeria won Silver and Awa Bamogo of Burkina Faso had Bronze.
In the Men junior individual pursuit, Nigeria’s Bethel Okeyah and John Gabriel clinched gold and sliver respectively while Jacques Nizeyimana of Burundi won bronze.
In Team Men Elite individual event, Assem Khalil won Gold for Egypt while Kurotimi Abaka and Qodiri Ajibade won silver and bronze for Nigeria.
In Women Junior Sprint, Tawakalt Yekeem from Nigeria won Gold while Mary Samuel won Silver also for Nigeria and Hadir Ossam secured bronze for Egypt, while in the women elite Team Sprint, Rita Oveh won Gold and Ese Upkeseraye won sliver for Nigeria and Awa Bamogo won bronze for Burkina Faso.
For the Men Junior Team Sprint, Nigeria’s Bethel Okeyah won Gold, Ahmed Elsenfawi of Egypt had sliver and Shedrack Igunbor won bronze.
Result of the Women Elite point race showed Ebtissdam Zayed of Egypt winning gold, Rosemary Marcus of Nigeria with Silver and Awa Bamogo won bronze.
In the Women Junior point race, Nigeria’s Mary Samuel, Grace Ayuba and Tawakalt Yekeem clinched Gold, Silver and bronze respectively.
However, Mounier Elzhari of Morroco won gold, Caleb Kalizibe from Nigeria won sliver and Ahmed Mohammed of Egypt won bronze in the men’s elite sprint.
In the Men Junior points race, Bethel Okeyah and Bethel Vitalis secured Gold and Silver for Nigeria while Jacques Nizeyimana of Burundi won bronze.
Results for the Men Elite point race showed Qodiri Ajibade from Nigeria winning gold, Mohammed Sadki of Morroco with sliver while Daouda Soulama of Burkina Faso clinched the bronze.
Tidesports also report that Nigeria has eight gold, 10 silver and three bronze, followed by Egypt with three gold,one sliver, three bronze.
Burundi has two bronze; Burkina Faso, four, and Morocco, one gold and one silver on the second day of the championship.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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