Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – Team Nigeria dominated Thursday’s events at the ANOCA Zone III Games, capping off a remarkable campaign with a total of 12 Gold medals, 1 silver, and 1 bronze. The West African powerhouse showed its strength in both Weightlifting and Badminton, underlining Nigeria’s regional supremacy.
In Weightlifting, Nigerian athletes swept the podium across multiple categories. Emmanuel Inakedor, the reigning African Champion in the 71kg category, delivered a flawless performance, claiming Gold in the Snatch, Clean & Jerk, and Total events.
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Ibrahim Rabiu, competing in the 79kg division and also serving as the team’s coach, mirrored Inakedor’s success by securing all three Gold medals in Snatch, Clean & Jerk, and Total.
African Champion Adeyemi Vincent completed the hat-trick in the 110kg category, winning Gold in all three disciplines and rounding off a perfect day for Team Nigeria in weightlifting.
Team Nigeria’s dominance extended to Badminton, where the athletes added 3 Golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze to the 2 Golds won earlier in the men’s and women’s doubles. Shehu Aliyu defeated Fano Dosh of Benin Republic 2-0 to claim men’s singles Gold, while Joseph Abel took the bronze. In the women’s singles, Dorcas Adedokan beat Deborah Ukeh in an all-Nigerian final to secure Gold.
In mixed doubles, the duo of Shehu Aliyu and Deborah Ukeh defeated host Burkina Faso in the semifinals before overcoming fellow Nigerians Joseph Abel and Dorcas Adedokan in the final.
Thursday’s results solidified Nigeria’s dominance in the regional tournament, with the country ending the day with 12 Gold medals, 1 silver, and 1 bronze, sending a strong message to other competing nations about Nigeria’s sporting prowess.
