Team Nigeria ended Day 3 of the Commonwealth Games with two more medals as it also booked a semi-final place in the men’s event of Table Tennis.
The day’s outing started with a bronze medal after Team Nigeria’s Edidong Joseph Umoafia clinched Bronze in the Men’s 67kg Weightlifing event.
Umoafia lifted a combined 290 from both Clean and Snatch & Jerk to win this medal. Gold and Siler honours in this category went to India’s Lalrinnunga Jeremy and Samoa’s Vaipava Nevo Ioane respectively.
Then the momentum moved to Men’s Table Tennis event where Team Nigeria was up against Team Nigeria in the Quarterfinals.
After losing the doubles, Quadri Aruna’s win in the first singles’ event put Team Nigeria level but Team Malaysia went ahead again after Team lost the second singles event.
Olajide Omotayo had to step in to keep the hopes alive in Game 4 landing a win that forced a fifth set which Quadri Aruna won for Team Nigeria
A breakdown of results:
Doubles:
Javen Choong /Shen 3 – 1 Bode Abiodun/Olajide Omotayo (6-11, 12-10, 12 -10,11-7)
Singles 1:
Chee Feng Leong 1 – 3 Quadri Aruna (9 -11,11 – 6,5 -11, 5-11)
Singles 2:
Qi Shen Wong 3 – 0 Bode Biodun (12 -10, 14 -12, 11-5)
Singles 3:
Chee Feng Leong 1-3 Olajide Omotayo (8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 6-11)
Singles 4:
Javen Choong 1-3 Quadri Aruna (11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 9-11)
Team Nigeria will now face Team India for a place in the finals.
Then came boxing. A 3-2 points Jollof Derby win over Team Ghana’s Abubakari Kwesi saw Team Nigeria’s Adeyinka Benson move into the quarter finals of the Men’s Middleweight category.
Then came another medal for Team Nigeria in Weightlifting after Rafiatu Folashade Lawal dominated the Women’s 59kg category to win the Gold medal in this category.
The 2021 African Championships Gold medalist set a new Games record of 206kg.
Speaking with journalists after this feat, Lawal spoke about her preparations for the Games and how it influenced this feat.
“I’m so excited and happy because I didn’t really expect what happened today. I was not under any pressure because of the support my English opponent received from the home crowd. I have trained very hard and my target coming here was to get the Gold medal”
This second Gold medal helped Team Nigeria retain its 9th place on the medal table.
Team Australia sits atop the medal’s table with 22 Gold medals, 13 silver medals and 17 bronze to make a total of 52 medals.
Team Nigeria will participate in Men’s Table Tennis, Boxing, Judo and Weightlifting on Day 4 of the 2022 Commonwealth Games
