The Team Nigeria has extended its medal lead at the ongoing West Africa Para Games in Abeokuta, winning a total of 15 medals in the Para Badminton event held at the Alake Sports Centre in Ijeja, Abeokuta.
The medals comprise five gold, seven silver and three bronze.
Nigeria secured gold medals in the Stand Upper 5 (SU5) men, Standing Lower 4 (SL4) men, Wheelchair 1 men and women categories, as well as in the SU5–SL3 XD and SL4–SL3 XD mixed doubles.
The performance places Nigeria ahead of other countries, with Benin Republic recording two gold and five silver medals, while Ghana has one gold and three bronze.
Speaking with journalists, Head Coach of Nigeria’s Para Badminton team, Mr Olasunkanmi Adewale expressed delight with the team’s performance.
“The para badminton team is doing well in Nigeria presently. Nigeria’s men’s wheelchair team won gold, and they also secured both gold and silver medals in the retreats,” he said.
He attributed the athletes’ strong outing to their previous successes, noting that Nigeria dominated the All-African Para Badminton Championship where they won 10 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze medals.
“We dominated in the All-African Para Badminton Championship, and that prepared us for this tournament,” he added.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s amputee football team has qualified for the final of the football event after defeating Cameroon 1-0 in their second match of the competition.
The team had earlier thrashed Benin Republic 11-0 in their opening match.
NAN reports that Michael Joel scored the only goal of the match played at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena, Kuto, Abeokuta.
Head Coach of the Nigerian Amputee Football team, Mr Gbenga Dosunmu, expressed optimism about winning the gold medal, while appealing for increased government support.
“There are no underdogs in this sport. We want to pick the gold for the government to intervene. Without them, we are going nowhere. We need support from the government and stakeholders,” he said.
In another match, Liberia amputee team defeated Benin Republic 7-0 to move to second place on the table with four points, after playing a goalless draw with Cameroon in their opening game.(NAN)