Olympics: Nigeria’s Blessing Oborodudu Reaches 68Kg Wrestling Final
Nigerian star Blessing Oborodudu is guaranteed of a medal at the Tokyo Olympics after she won the women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling semi-final match against Mongolia’s Battsetseg Soronzonbold to reach the final.
Oborududu, who is set for the record books as Nigeria’s first ever Olympics medalist in wrestling, is now guaranteed either a Gold or Silver medal although the final match is yet to be played.
The 10-time African champion will now face top seed Tamyra Stock Mensah in Tuesday’s final after the American World champion overpowered Ukraine’s Alla Cherkasova 10-4 in the first semi-final.
On her way to the final, Obourududu made light work of Elis Manolova in the round of 16, thrashing the Azerbaijani 13-2 via technical superiority, before securing a hard-fought 3-2 win against Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the quarter-finals.
After a cagey opening moment in her semi-final bout against the 2015 World champion Soronzonbold, the energetic Oborududu burst into action, taking down the Mongolian thrice to eventually win the first round 7-0.
Read more: Olympics: Nwokocha, Oborodudu Keep Team Nigeria’s Medal Hopes Alive
A late fight back saw Soronzonbold score two points, but Oborududu was never going to be denied a place in history as she ran out with a comfortable 7-2 win.
The second seed Oborududu will renew her rivalry with old foe Mensah, as they battle for the ultimate prize – gold medal, with the pair expected to get on the mat around 11.15am Nigerian time.
They last met at the 2019 World championships in Kazakhstan, with the American getting the better of Oborududu on her way to the title.
Chidi Nwoke/Channels.
