Nigeria has emerged the overall winner of the just concluded Invitational Open Judo Championship held in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
The country’s Judokas garnered seven gold and three silver medals to lead other nine countries at the three day championship.
Board member of the Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF) Damisa Suleiman, who was one of the officials at the championship praised the Judokas for their brilliant performance and urged them not to relent on their oars.
“The athletes were impressive. They put up brilliant performance at the championship that made them the toast of officials from other countries,” he said.
The gold medallists include male Judokas Eniafe Alabi (60kg) and Abduljabar Abdulkareem (66kg), while the remaining five female Judokas include Esther Sule (78kg), Esther Augustine (68kg), Winnie Gofit (70kg), Lucy Ekechukwu (48kg) and Chinwe Mba (+78kg).
The three silver medallists include male Judoka Daniel James in the 66kg and the duo of Kafayat Azeez (52kg) and Christiana Victor in the 50kg.
In a chat with Pilot Sports on arrival from Cotonou, Eniafe Alabi, who was adjudged the Best Judoka at the championship, attributed their feat to hard work.
“We really prepared well for the championship. I can say that hard work and determination to succeed contributed to our success.
“The championship will also help us to work harder for subsequent competitions as we’ve learnt one or two tricks of the game in Cotonou,’ he said.
Alabi also commended the board members of the NJF for their unrelenting support towards the development of the game in the country.
“From the President to the other board members, they really tried. We would not have participated in the championship if not for their support and for that we are very grateful and we want them to continue to encourage us while we hope and pray we get the attention and support from the Ministry of Sports and corporate organizations,’ he said.
Apart from host, Benin Republic, other countries that participated at the championship included Ghana, Cote d’ivoire, Congo Brassavile, Chad Republic, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mauritius and France.