BENIN – The President, Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF), Timothy Nsirim, has said that the country would get more medals from Judo than from any other sport at the 2015 All Africa Games.
Nsirim expressed the hope at the closing of the maiden Timothy Nsirim National Open Judo Championships for senior and junior judokas in Benin on Saturday.
He said that it was in a bid to realise this that the Judo federation mapped out various tournaments and training programmes for the athletes.
He noted that the aim of the championships was to harness talents for the Games as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
While saying that the championships had lived up to expectation, Nsirim disclosed that the federation would also closely monitor the performance of judokas during the 20th National Sports Festival in Calabar. [eap_ad_1] According to him, the 2015 All Africa Games and the 2016 Olympics are key events on the calendar of the NJF and which the championships has kick-started preparation for by providing a platform for initial team selections.
“Also, as the 20th National Sports Festival in Cross River approaches, the federation expects quality contest from all athletes and officials.
“Coaches are therefore advised to utilise this championships to once again reassess their teams and return to training on specifics,” he said.
The NJF president commended that judokas and the Edo government for providing the enabling environment for the championships to be successful.
Rivers State won the three-day championships with six gold, three silver and five bronze medals.
Fifteen states participated in the competition which had a total of 50 medals on offer and was held at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
Delta, Imo, Edo and Nassarawa were among the states that participated. (NAN)
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