Femi Akinsanya, the National Coach of the Nigeria Arm Wrestling Federation (NAF) on Sunday said the body would select 20 athletes to represent the country at the 10th Africa Championships.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Africa Championships will hold from May 30 to June 2, in Bamako, Mali.
Akinsanya told the NAN in Lagos that athletes would be selected based on their performance at the just-concluded West Africa Arm Wrestling Classics held yesterday in Lagos.
NAN reports that no fewer than 50 athletes participated in the one-day maiden Classics organised by NAF at the Lagos Sports Centre, Rowe Park in Yaba.
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“We officially started preparation for the forthcoming Africa Championships in Mali where 20 athletes will represent the country.
The federation held a championship yesterday and we have pencilled down the names of those that performed well in the event.
The competition came at the right time as we prepare toward the Africa Championships and I must commend the leadership of the federation for the initiative,” he said.
The coach said the names of the selected athletes would be announced soon, adding that they would be invited to camp to prepare more for the task ahead.
We didn’t performed excellently in the last Africa Championships held in Ghana because of inadequate preparation and we don’t want the same thing to happen in Mali, ” he said.
NAN reports that Nigeria won six gold, six silver and six bronze medals at the last edition held in Accra in 2018.
Nigeria also hosted the 2017 edition of the Africa Championships in Lagos. (NAN)
