By Our Reporter
FORMER World No. 1 Odunayo Adekuoroye laid down the marker in the 57kg class ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, impressively claiming gold at the Poland Open on a day her compatriot Blessing Oborududu won silver at the Ranking Series tournament in Warsaw.
In the qualification round, Commonwealth champion Adekuoroye took out Ukrainian Tetyana Kit 10-0 via technical superiority, before utterly destroying World and Olympic champion Helen Maroulis (USA) 13-0 in the quarter-finals in their first meeting since the 2018 Beat The Streets tourney in New York.
The 3-time World Championships medalist overcame Russian Valeria Zholobova 10-0 via superiority in the semi-finals to set up a final showdown against Iryna Kurachkina of Belarus.
However, following the inability of the Belarusian Kurachkina to show up in the final, Adekuoroye was awarded a forfeit victory, clinching gold at the tournament without conceding a point.
Oborududu, meanwhile, triumphed 3-2 over Russian Khanum Velieva in the qualification round, before demolishing Nesrin Bas of Turkey 12-0 via pinfall in the last 8.
In the semi-finals, the former World No. 2 and 10-time African champion overpowered American Forrest Molinari 8-2, before succumbing to a 3-0 defeat to France’s Koumba Larroque in the gold medal bout.
A day earlier on Thursday, Aminat Adeniyi (62kg) and youngster Adijat Idris (50kg) were unsuccessful in their attempts to win laurels at the tournament.
Two-time Commonwealth champion Adeniyi lost 6-0 to Liubov Ovcharova of Russia in the qualification round, while Idris was subdued 8-3 by another Russian Nadezhda Sokolova in the quarter-finals.
Aside the ranking points and prize monies at stake, the Poland Open serves as a preparation for Team Nigeria ahead of the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will take place from 23 July to August 8, 2021.
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