Lifters shine as Female Yellow Greens eye AG bronze

Team Nigeria won six more gold medals in the weightlifting event of the ongoing African Games in Ghana on Tuesday through Ruth Ayodele and Joy Eze, who won three each in the 64kg and 71kg respectively.

After Monday’s routine,  which saw Edidiong Umoafia open the floodgates with three gold medals, the lifters returned to the GCB Hall of the University Ghana and took Nigeria’s tally to 15 in the event.

Ayodele is competing in her first African Games and claimed her three gold in the 64kg lifting 94kg snatch, 114kg clean & jerk, totaling 208kg while Eze

Eze, in her second appearance at the Games also followed suit with three gold medals in the 71kg, lifting 90kg snatch, 117 clean & jerk to get a total of 207kg.

On Monday night, Folashade Lawal and Adijat Olarinoye were also in action, winning three gold each in the women’s 55kg & 59kg respectively after Umoafia had won three earlier in the day.

Altogether, the five athletes won a total of 15 gold medals for Nigeria in the weightlifting event and took Nigeria’s tally to 22 gold medals.

Although Team Nigeria had 16 gold as at the start of Day 5 on Tuesday, the six more gold medals still leave them second in the medals table after Egypt, who lead with 48 gold medals.

Meanwhile, Nigeria go head-to-head against 18th-ranked Uganda in the third-place match of the women’s cricket event at the Games as the event’s debut reaches an exciting climax at the Achimota Cricket Oval in Accra on Wednesday (today).

The Female Yellow Greens lost by five wickets against Zimbabwe in the semi-finals while Uganda lost by 50 runs against South Africa to set up the clash and leave the first two teams on the continent to also slug it out for silver and gold.

With nine places between Nigeria (27) and Uganda (18) in the T20 rankings, the Female Yellow Greens will not be buoyed by the credentials of the Victoria Pearls, having faced and conquered a higher-ranked opponent in Namibia during the group stages.