Commonwealth Games: Nigeria wins third powerlifting gold, stumble in boxing

Nigeria claimed an unprecedented third gold medal in the para powerlifting event at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Friday night. Riluwan Idris claimed Nigeria’s third gold medal in the event by winning the men’s heavyweight category of the para powerlifting events, finishing in first place ahead of England’s Matthew Harding who settled for […]

Nigeria claimed an unprecedented third gold medal in the para powerlifting event at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Friday night.

Riluwan Idris claimed Nigeria’s third gold medal in the event by winning the men’s heavyweight category of the para powerlifting events, finishing in first place ahead of England’s Matthew Harding who settled for Silver and Malaysia’s Nicodemus Manggoi Moses who won bronze.

Idris lifted 200kg on his first attempt, and improved to an impressive 208kg to seal the gold medal, with both Harding and Moses failing to lift beyond 200kg.

Idris however failed to set a Games record on his third lift as he attempted to break the 121kg record.

The 23-year-old’s gold medal is the third won by Nigeria at the Games, with six medals won so far all achieved in para powerlifting. It surpassed the two gold medals and five-medal haul Nigeria achieved in para powerlifting at Birmingham 2022.

In other events, two Nigerian boxers suffered defeats in their respective bouts. Abdulramon Abdulwahab was pummeled 5-0 by Uganda’s Nuhu Batte in the men’s 65kg category, while Ayomide Hassan FOly suffered similar fate at the hands of Lesotho’s Refiloe Thai 4-0.

It was, however, mixed fortunes in the 3×3 basketball event, with Nigeria defeating the Cayman Islands 21-17 in its first game, but subsequently lost to both Australia and New Zealand 21-15 and 21-10 respectively.