Team Nigeria might not have won a medal at the end of actions on Day 6 of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but there were good performances from across the three events they participated in.
Grace Nwokocha and Rosemary Chukwuma became the first Nigerian female athletes to qualify for the final of the women’s 100m, since Blessing Okagbare ran a Games Record of 10.85s to win GOLD at Hampden Park Glasgow in 2014.
Although the duo of Nwokocha and Chukwuma might not have won any medal in the 100m, they had an honourable outing in the final, finishing 4th and 5th in 11.17s & 11.18s respectively. This is the first time that either of them will be making the final of the 100m at a major championship.
In the men’s 100m, Nigeria missed out on having an athlete in the final, with Favour Ashe narrowly missing out on a spot by just one place. Ashe had finished 3rd in his semifinal heat, clocking a time of 10.24s, but it was not enough as Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati grabbed one of the fastest two qualifications spots with 10.18s in his heat.
African High Jump Silver medallist, Mike Edwards finally got the chance to compete at the Commonwealth Games, and he had a respectable show, finishing 6th jumping a height of 2.19m.
In the Women’s Shot Put final, Anabel Orobosa got international experience under her belt, competing in her first international championship. The Nigerian champion threw 16.70m to finish 9th.
All three of the Nigerian entrants in the men’s 400m: Samson Nathaniel, Dubem Amene & Adewale Sikiru qualified for the semifinals, going out strong in their respective heats to book their spots in the next round. While Patience-Okon-George continued to ensure Nigeria will have representation in the women’s 400m semis, qualifying after running 52.43s.
To Table Tennis & Para-Table Table events, the Nigerian players who were at the tables on Day 6, recorded some good wins in their Singles Group matches, to put themselves in a good position going into the next round.
Esther Oribamise won two matches in Group 3 of the women’s Singles, beating Vanuatu’s Roanna Abel 4-0 in her first match. The Nigerian player returned to the table later and secured yet another victory, beating Sadia Rahman from Bangladesh 4-0.
Also securing two victories each were Nasiru Sule and Isau Ogunkunle who got two crucial wins in the men’s Singles Classes 3-5, Group 1 and group 2 respectively.
Sule opened his account with victory over Canada’s Muhammad Mudassar, winning the match by 3-0. He followed it up with another victory, beating England’s Jack Hunter-Spivey 3-2 in a riveting match.
Ogunkunle on his part followed suit in group 2, first with a 3-0 win over England’s Dan Bulle, and then made it two wins in two, beating India’s Raj Aravindan Alagar 3-1 to secure his spot in the next round of the Para Table Tennis competition.
In Women’s Over 70kg-75kg Middleweight Boxing event, Jacinta Umunnakwe is at least guaranteed a medal, after progressing to the semifinal without even having to fight. Umunnakwe was awarded a walkover win against Tonga’s Mele Ula.
