Tokyo Olympics: Adekuoroye Begins Medal Quest Against Anastasia On Wednesday

Tokyo Olympics: Adekuoroye Begins Medal Quest Against Anastasia On Wednesday By Our Reporter Second seed Odunayo Adekuoroye will begin her quest for an Olympic medal in the 57kg weight category on Wednesday. The three-time World championships medallist Adekuoroye will be up against Anastasia Nichita of Moldova in the round of 16 around 4.00am Nigerian time. Meanwhile, Blessing Oborududu on Tuesday entered the record books as the first Nigerian to win a wrestling medal at the Olympics, following a silver medal performance at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The 10-time African champion settled for silver after losing 4-1 to American world champion Tamyra Mensah Stock in the final of the 68kg weight class in an explosive contest that can easily pass for a classic. Ukrainian Alla Cherkasova and Meerim Zhumanazarova – who like Obourududu, became the first wrestler from Kyrgyzstan to win an Olympics medal – both won bronze. Oborududu went into Tuesday’s final at Makuhari Messe Hall as the underdog against the world champion Mensah Stock, who defeated her 6-1 in their last meeting at the 2019 World Championships in Kazakhstan. However, the Commonwealth champion was unfazed by the impressive credential of her opponent throughout the all-action finale. With both wrestlers approaching the contest offensively, Mensah Stock got on the scoresheet first, with a take down for 2 points, while Oborududu pulled one point back, when she pushed the American off the red circle. However, another 2-point score by the 28-year-old handed her a 4-1 lead at the end of the first round. Both wrestlers failed to score further points in the second round, as Obourududu sealed her place in history with a silver medal. Earlier, Oborududu’s compatriot Aminat Adeniyi lost 4-2 via pinfall to Ukraine’s Iryna Koliadenko, despite leading 4-0 in their round of 16 bout. Commonwealth champion Adeniyi was hoping for Koliadenko to reach the final, so she could via for a bronze medal through the repechage. But Koliadenko was stopped in the semi-final by Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan, who won 10-0 via technical superiority.