Adekuoroye Qualifies for Tokyo 2020, to Battle for Bronze Thursday
Odunayo Adekuoroye secured her passage to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in K
WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Duro Ikhazuagbe
Nigeria’s Odunayo Adekuoroye wednesday secured the ticket to the women’s wrestling event of the 2020 Olympic Games following her qualification for the semi final of the ongoing 2019 Senior World Wrestling Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
The African champion defeated Sun Jong of North Korea 12-2 via technical superiority in the 57kg category of the women’s event.
Although she lost her bid to reach the final following her 6-1 defeat by two-time world and Olympic champion, Risako Kawai of Japan later in the day, getting to the last four stage was enough to fetch her the passage to Tokyo 2020.
Adekuoroye whose career is backed by the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry’s General Overseer, Dr. D.K. Olukoya is a 2017 world silver-medalist. She will today battle for the bronze medal.
In other categories of the World Championships, Japan’s Kenichiro Fumita ensured he is going to be a very big deal at the Tokyo 2020 Games as he effectively regained his world wrestling title yesterday.
The 23-year-old from Yamanashi, who won the world title in Paris two years ago at the old weight category of 59kg, dominated the Russian who had arrived as world and European champion at 60kg from last year, Sergey Emelin, beating him 10-5 in the Barys Arena.
Iran’s Ali Nejati, with a 7-5 win over Uzbekistan’s Elmurat Tazmuradov, and home wrestler Mirambek Ainagulov, with a 10-0 victory over Ukraine’s Lenur Temirov, took 60kg bronze.
Hungary’s Tamas Lorincz, the London 2012 silver medallist at 66kg, won his first global medal at the age of 32 as he overwhelmed Sweden’s Alex Kessidis in the 77kg final, winning 8-0.
There was disappointment for the home crowd as Ashkat Dilmukhamedov, who had beaten a double Olympic champion and a world champion – Russian Roman Vlasov and then Serbian Viktor Nemes – en route to the semi-finals on the previous day, ended the tournament without tangible reward for his excellence.
The Kazhak was beaten 3-1 in his 77kg bronze medal match by Uzbekistan’s Jalgasbay Burdimuratov.
Russia finished top of the Greco-Roman wrestling events standings with 132 points, ahead of Uzbekistan on 80, one point ahead of Georgia.
