Niger Delta Sports Festival Day 3: Delta, Imo states shine in swimming, wrestling

Day 3 of the ongoing Niger Delta Sports Festival (NDSF) delivered a thrilling spectacle of athletic excellence, with standout performances across multiple sporting disciplines.

From fast-paced indoor games at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium to intense football matches, combat sports, team events, and exhilarating aquatic contests, the festival continued to celebrate the region’s rich sporting talent.

Delta State once again demonstrated its dominance in swimming, clinching gold in the 50m Butterfly Finals and also emerging victorious in the men’s team event. The state’s swimmers displayed exceptional skill and coordination, reinforcing Delta’s reputation as a powerhouse in aquatic sports.

Meanwhile, Imo State made a powerful statement in Traditional Wrestling, securing six wins out of eight semifinal bouts across both the men’s and women’s categories. With this impressive showing, Imo State advanced to the finals in strong form and is now positioned as a serious contender for gold in the wrestling events.

Edo State’s Raheem Ridwan defeated his Ondo State opponent, Ojo Victor to win 5-0 in the under 63kg weight
category.

Uraiah Patrick of Delta State won the gold in men’s Chess Rapid Event while the silver went to Ekunke Odey Goodness of Bayelsa State.

Bayelsa State made a clean sweep of medals in the Women’s category of the Chess Rapid Event with Deborah Ebimobo winning the gold beating her fellow Bayelsan, Pelomoh Jessica who took the Silver while
Ebiakpo Sunshine and Osayande Kingsley from Edo were joint third.

At the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre, Team Akwa Ibom triumphed over Team Edo in the women’s doubles quarterfinals of Tennis while in the singles event, Edo’s Lorelay Holzendorff outlasted Olaniyan Adesewa in a marathon quarterfinal that lasted over 90 minutes, winning in two tiebreaks 5-4(2), 5-4(5). She will now face Etoro Bassey (Akwa Ibom) in the semifinals.

Day 5 of events opened with a demonstration Golf Kitty at the Ibom Icon Hotel Golf Resort and the day promises more excitement as finals in several indoor sports and athletics/para-athletics events will take centre stage.

Events scheduled to hold their finals include, Shot Put F/40 Women Final (Para-weightlifting), Triple Jump Women Final and Para-athletics Hammer Throw Women Final.

There will also be podium battles for all categories in Swimming and in Tradional Wrestling and weight lifting.