President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Daniel Igali
President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF), Daniel Igali has expressed satisfaction with both the hosting and the performance of Team Nigeria at the just ended African Wrestling Championship (AWC) held at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Team Nigeria came tops in the overall assessment of the championship by finishing in the second position in the cadet freestyle, second in cadet Greco-Roman and first in the cadet women category.
The team had a strong showing in the junior freestyle, as it emerged over all best. Again, she came second in the junior Greco-Roman, and second in junior women wrestling category.Team Nigeria again came tops in the senior women category and senior freestyle category. But the team completely missed out among the best three nations in the senior Greco-Roman category.
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Speaking at the end of the tournament, Igali described the outcome of the championship as wonderful, despite some hiccups. “The tournament was a fantastic one, with wonderful fans. The organisation was almost flawless, and sponsorship was amazing. Most importantly, Team Nigeria wrestled like they never did before. “From the results of our athletes at this championship, I believe in two years time we are going to win at least a medal at the Olympics. That is the next goal.
“But our immediate goal will be in April where the athletes will be going to the Commonwealth Games and there we hope we are going to perform better than we did at the last Games. We’ve started preparation because training has begun and in the next six weeks we will see how well we handle it to achieve success at the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
An excited Igali, who commented on the sterling performances put up by Team Nigeria in the cadet category, said their participation at AWC was to gain exposure.“The whole essence of the cadet is to get used to international tournament. To us at the federation, it is not about whether they win but getting the experience.
“As they get involved in international competitions, hopefully in a few years to come when they are between the ages of 20 and 21 years, that is when we will start expecting results from them,” he said.
Source: G Sport
