The Lagos State Judo team have emerged as the overall winner in the just-concluded maiden edition of the Babatunde RajI Fashola (BRF) Judo competition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the five -day competition, which took place at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, featured 10 states and one club, with 26 categories each.
The Lagos team won 10 gold medals, nine silver and seven bronze medals, Nasarawa came second with five gold medals; while the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) came third with two gold medals, two silver and two bronze medals.
The competition was held to prepare athletes and coaches for the forthcoming 18th National Sports Festival and also served as a forum to discover budding talents.
Following their brilliant outing, the Head Coach of the Lagos State Judo team, Omorodion Edokpolor expressed joy, saying: 'Now I know my judokas are ready for the sports festival.’’
?“I am very certain at this moment that we will not lose focus in achieving our ultimate goal because I am sure of winning gold medals,'' she said.
She pledged that her judokas would not rest on their oars as they would be focused and determined.
Jide Daniel, a Lagos State judoka, who won gold in the men's 73kg category, expressed his happiness.
“I am glad I won. It was not easy as I thought it would be, because our opponents also have the same reason to win with the same fitness level to match ours too.
?“Now that I have fought fellow judoka from another state, I know what it feels like to compete in the sports festival.
“It is a different feeling entirely from fighting with my fellow judoka from the same state who you are used to fighting with,” Daniel said.
Another Lagos state judoka, Rimi Mohammed, who won the 90kg category, said that he was ready and would put extra effort to keep his pace against his opponents.
Ogochukwu Oguike, winner of the 100kg, from Imo state, told NAN that he felt elated with his performance.
“I am grateful for this win, although we came 7th on the medals table, winning only 2medal, a gold and bronze.
“Now, we know we still have to work harder if we want to win medals at the sports festival,” he said.
Success Bako, who won in the 27kg for Nasarawa State, said that he found it difficult to believe that he won.
“My opponent performed brilliantly but I eventually won,’’ ’he said.
He praised his coach for mentoring him and also expressed the hope to win in the same category at the festival.
Another teammate, Evelyn Joseph, winner of the 63kg female, said that she was thrilled that her state came second, which made her to believe that Nasarawa would have a fruitful outing at the forthcoming 18th National Sports Festival.
Bukola Adeyanyi of the NSCDC, winner of the 57kg female, said was glad to win the category of the only club.
She noted that the club registered for the competition without much hope of winning but surprised the spectators as they emerged third on the medal table beating many states to claim it.
Timothy Nsirim, 1st Vice President of the Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF) praised the Governor of Lagos State for sponsoring such a competition for the development of sports at the grassroots level.
“Indeed, the governor of Lagos State has done it again; I give him kudos for giving sports a chance once again at the grassroots.’’
“He has brought me great joy to see that other sports are also encouraged to grow and other governors should emulate this,” he said.
Nsirim told NAN that sports should be taken back to schools where they could grow, adding that the local government should not relent in this regard as they have a major role to play in sports development.
Mutiu Are, the chairman of the Lagos state Judo Association, thanked the NJF for their support and? said that Lagos judokas would not let their fans down at the sports festival.
“I am impressed with the development especially for the fact that we came first by winning 10 medals out of 20 medals in this competition and I see great improvement so far.
“I know for certain that they will make us proud come November, because this competition has showed that they will bring the gold medal to us,” Are said.
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