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By Peter Akinbo
Head coach of Nigeria women’s wrestling team, Purity Akuh, has said that his target at the 13th African Games in Ghana is to win all the available gold medals in the weight classes.
The African Games will take place from March 8 to 23.
“My target by the grace of God at the forthcoming African Games is to win gold medals in every category we will feature in,” he told PUNCH Sports Extra.
Esther Kolawole and Christianah Ogunsanya are currently in Croatia representing Nigeria in the women’s freestyle event at the 2024 Zagreb Open and Akuh said that the wrestlers were physically and mentally fit for the Grand Prix.
The 2024 Zagreb Open is the first ranking series event of the United World Wrestling in 2024 and will hold from January 10 to 14. Akuh believes the Grand Prix will help the wrestlers prepare for the challenges ahead, including the Olympic Qualifiers.
“The wrestlers (Kolawole and Ogunsanya) are in a good state of mind, this is the beginning of a new season and they are excited to start the season with the first ranking series event in Croatia.
“The Ranking Series will help prepare the girls for the Olympic Games qualifiers because they are wrestling some of the best wrestlers in the world. If they can perform well in Croatia, then I do not think any wrestler will be able to stop them at the African/Oceanic Qualifiers. I believe that young wrestlers can make a huge statement; all they need is to be exposed to international tournaments and that is the reason the federation brought them here.”
