8th October, 2010
With one gold medal in the kitty for Team Nigeria in the wrestling event of the ongoing Commonwealth Games in India, former wrestling champion, Daniel Igali believes the nation can still win more.
Nigeria’s Agbonavbare Efionaye Joe won gold medal in the 84kg category of the Greco-Roman wrestling style, while Talaram Mamman won silver in the Greco-Roman 120kg final.
Igali, who won a gold medal in the Men’s 69 kg freestyle wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, is optimistic that with ten Nigerians still in  contention for medals in the wrestling event of the Games, more laurels will be won for Team Nigeria.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll win more medals in the wrestling event in India as the competition progresses. There is no doubt about that, at least we still have about 10 wrestlers competing,†he told Brila FM.
Igali, who won 116 consecutive fights at Simon Fraser University, Canada from 1997 to 1999, said he was glad with the achievement of Nigerian wrestlers in the Commonwealth Games this year, adding that the medals won so far indicated that Nigeria is a force to reckon with in the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Bayelsa State-born wrestler, who has naturalized as a Canadian, said with an enabling environment Nigerian wrestlers would do well in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
—Taiwo Adelu