By Abiola Mujeeb
The Nigeria Arm Wrestling Federation (NAWF) has said that it had shortlisted 24 athletes for camping ahead of the 37th World Arm wrestling Championships, schedule to run from September 25 to October 4 in Malaysia.
NAWF President, Olatunji Jackson, said in Lagos that the camping would commence on September 15 in Lagos.
Jackson added that the camping was to select the required 15 male and female practitioners for the championships.
“NAWF invited 24 athletes to enable it select the very best among them. We intend going with the best hands so as to achieve the target we set for ourselves. Our target is to impress the National Sports Commission (NSC), being our first opportunity to participate in international championships.
“The federation was inaugurated late last year and we organised just a national championship since our inauguration. So, we are using this international competition to impress the commission for them to appreciate our capability.
“To us, the world championship is a serious event and we are working round the clock to ensure that all our efforts will yield positive results,’’ he said.
The president said those selected would feature in 10 weight categories at the championships for both the able and the physically challenged.
The weight categories for the able athletes, the junior 18 and 21, seniors, masters, senior grand masters and grand masters.
Jackson added that the physically challenged weight categories are the physically impaired for sitting and standing athletes, visually impaired for standing athletes and hearing impairment for standing athletes.
The president said the federation was committed toward a collective goal to put the country on the medals’ table at the championships.
“We are engaging in this as our target is to win as many medals as possible. If we are able to achieve this, it will always encourage the athletes to do better at subsequent national and international competitions,’’ he said.
