Nigeria’s Enku Ekuta Wins Gold at 4th African Judo Open in Dakar

Nigeria’s Enku Ekuta Wins Gold at 4th African Judo Open in Dakar

Nigeria has performed valiantly at the 4th African Judo Open in Dakar as Enku Ekuta, a Nigerian Judoka won gold in the 63kg women category finals at the 4th African Judo Open in Dakar, Senegal.

Enku Ekuta defeated the 2019 African games champion, Helene Dombeu of Cameroon to win gold at the sports competition which was held on Saturday 14th, 2020. Enku won with an ippon after over three minutes of the keenly contested bout, which saw both fighters accumulating two penalties each.

Akwa Ibom born Enku Ekuta qualified for the finals of 4th African Judo Open in Dakar after defeating Carolina Delgado of Cape Verde and Anastasiya-Alexander Nenova of South Africa in the preliminary pool. This is Enku’s first continental open gold medal and the second time she will defeat 33-year old Helene Dombeu at a continental open.

Excited about her win, Enku said, “I feel excited winning my first continental gold. I want to thank God for this victory. I also thank my sponsor, Accugas for ensuring that I had all the support I needed to participate in the competition. The Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF) has also been supportive. My performance in Dakar will motivate me to work harder in upcoming competitions”.

Read Also: Pastor Sam Adeyemi Becomes A Member of Forbes Coaches Council

Also speaking on Enku Ekuta’s win, Nkoyo Etuk, head of stakeholder relations and communication of Savannah Energy for Accugas, a Savannah Energy company which sponsored Enku to the competition said, “We congratulate Enku Ekuta on the remarkable victory in Dakar. She was the only judoka from Nigeria who participated at the 4th African Judo Open. Enku’s performance has justified the confidence we have in her talent which inspired the deal to sponsor her training and competition to ensure she qualifies for and participates at the 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. We are optimistic that she will win more continental open to secure enough points to qualify for the Olympics.”

Prior to winning the gold medal, at the African Judo Open in Senegal, Enku Ekuta won a bronze medal at the 2020 Yaoundé Senior African Open Judo Championship.

The amazing victory at the 4th African Judo open in Dakar has now added 100 IJF world ranking points to Enku Ekuta’s profile as she continues to garner points to secure qualification for the 2021 Summer Olympic Games which takes place in Tokyo, Japan.