Team Nigeria’s Nathaniel, Amene Reach 400m Men’s Semis
Team Nigeria’s Samson Nathaniel has qualified for the semi-finals of Men’s 400m event at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, while compatriot Dubem Amene also qualified for the semi-finals in the same event.
Nathaniel on Wednesday afternoon finished second in Heat 3 of the 400m event to qualify, clocking 46.31s behind Kenya’s Boniface Mweresa. The Nigerian sprinter shared a few worlds qualifying for the the 400m Men’s semi-final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
“I still need to work a little bit on my execution, especially the last 50m,” Nathaniel said after the race. “I feel good, I still feel like I have a lot left in the tank so I am ok.”
Dubem Amene
In Heat 4 of the Men’s 400m event at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Dubem Amene also booked his place in the semi-finals.
Amene came through with an automatic qualification in heat 4, finishing second in a time of 46.77s behind England’s Matthew Hudson-Smith who won in 46.26s.
“It was a little different, this is my first 400m since the NCAAs in June,” Amene said after the race. “It was a little rough.”
Sikiru Adewale Adeyemi could not finish in the top three places in Heat 5 as he finished his race in 4th, narrowly missing out from the semi-finals.
Table Tennis and Para Table Tennis
There was a flurry of wins for Nigeria in the Table Tennis event, with the Nigerian players securing important victories in their group matches.
Esther Oribamise won 2 matches in Group 3 of the Women’s Singles, beating Roanna Abel 4-0 in her first match.
The Nigerian male players were not left out on the show, with Nasiru Sule opening his account with victory over Canada’s Muhammad Mudassar, winning their Men’s Singles Classes 3-5 match by 3-0.
Isau Ogunkunle followed suit with a 3-0 win over England’s Dan Bullen
Wrapping things up for Nigeria in the first session was Tajudeen Agunbiade, who saw off Panteleimon Kailis (Cyprus) 3-0 in the men’s Singles Classes 8-10 group 2.
Grace Nwokocha (Women’s 100m)
Nigerian athlete Grace Nwokocha didn’t have a very good start in Heat 1 of Women’s 100m semi-finals, but she turned it around finishing strongly and taking the 2nd automatic spot to the final.
Nwokocha crossed the finish line in 11.06s, while Julien Alfred took the win in a time of 11.04s
Rosemary Chukwuma also qualified for the final of the 100m Women’s event as she also came second in her heat. Meanwhile, Joy Udo Gabriel ran a 11.45s(0.0) and will not advance to the final later today.
Chidi Nwoke/Making of Champions.
