A couple of medals were on Tuesday won by some athletes among the Team Ekiti at the National Sports Festival in Edo state.
In boxing, the cultural center was filled to the brim as boxing fans and spectators converged to cheer their state representatives.
In one of the fights on Tuesday, a female boxer, Oluwatobi Alade settled for a silver medal in the 60kg category after bowing to her Ogun state counterpart while Akwa Ibom state won it’s first gold through Monday Idarabong.
In the game of chess, the venue was equally filled as veteran players won most of the medals up for grabs while two female players from Ekiti were rewarded for their impressive performances.
Blessing Fajugbagbe won a bronze while Glory Lucky was rewarded as the best debutant in chess at the sports fiesta.
Oyo state dominated the medal haul in chess while coach Bunmi Olape was named the best coach .
The surprise of the day was the gold medal won by 18 year old Aisha Suleiman who became the winner of the first ever gold medal for Kogi state since the beginning of the National Sports festival .
As the curtains are set to fall on the 2020 national sports festival today, Delta state are topping the medals table with over 120 gold , the host state Edo are second with about 100 gold while Bayelsa, Rivers and Lagos states are among the top five states.
Ekiti has two gold, three silver and five bronze to rank among the top 25 states in sports in Nigeria.
However, finals of some athletic events will hold before the closing ceremony at the samuel Ogbemudia stadium as Ekiti are still vying for more medals in relay races for men and women as well as mixed event.
The host of the next national sports festival is expected to be announced during the finals as there are speculations that Oyo state has indicated interest in hosting the tournament next year .
By Qozeem Oladapo
