Adekouroye, Oborududu To Compete At Ranking Series Tournament
Written by darling on January 13, 2020
Current world bronze medalist Odunayo Adekuoroye (57kg) and Commonwealth champion Blessing Oborududu (68kg), will be joined by three other elite female wrestlers to compete at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series tournament in the Italian city of Rome.
The others are multiple African and Commonwealth champion Aminat Adeniyi (62kg), as well as Blessing Onyebuchi (76kg) and Mercy Genesis (50kg), who both won gold and silver medals respectively at the inaugural World Beach Games in Doha, Qatar last year.
The wrestlers, under the guidance head coach of the female national team Purity Akuh, will depart Lagos on Tuesday, 14th January for the event scheduled for 15th to 18th January 2020.
In Rome, the five wrestlers, all gold medalists at the 12th African Games in Morocco, will be contesting for crucial ranking points which will enhance their seeding at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
The tournament is also expected to put the wrestlers in good shape prior to the 2020 African Championships in Algeria early next month and the Africa/Oceania Olympic qualifier in El Jadida, Morocco, which will take place in March.
Former world number one, Adekuoroye is the only Nigerian wrestler that has qualified Tokyo Games. Oborududu was unfortunate not to seal her place at the 2019 World Championships in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan.
However, the Nigeria Wrestling Federation is hopeful that more seven athletes will join her to Tokyo when the Olympic qualifier gets underway in Morocco.
After the tournament, the wrestlers will commence intensive camping ahead of the 2020 African Championships in Algiers slated for 4th to 9th February.
