just concluded Cotonou International Invitational Championship told judoblitzng.com that the country was on course to greatness.

According to him “The Cotonou event was an eye-opener. Though there is still some work to be done on the judokas, the situation is not as bad as I thought. With more trainings, competitions and exposure, our judokas will go places”.

 Edokpolor admitted that the lull in judo for sometime made Nigeria lose her pre-eminent position in the sport. “In the past on Tunisia and Morocco were at our level in the continent but today, our status has really declined but then all is not lost.

 He added “ But with what I saw in Ibadan during the Senior National Judo Championships and during the camping prior to the trip in Cotonou, all hope is not lost. Our country is blessed with talents and all they need is proper coaching, regular competitions and enough exposure and we will be there”.

 The national coach lamented the absence of Nigeria from the London Olympics but he was quick to add that it happened when he was not in charge. He enthused “We will be present in Rio Olympics in 2016 because the new board is determined to succeed”.

 Nigeria dominated the Cotonou championship which had six countries in attendance. Of the twelve judokas who hoisted the country’s banner, six got gold and three got silver. The Nigerian gold medalists include two males AbduljaberAbdulkareem(66kg,) EniafeAlabi(60kg) and four females Luciana Ezechukwu(48kg), Esther Augustine(63kg), WinnieGofit(70kg) and Esther Sule(78kg).

 The silver medals were won by one male Daniel James(66kg) and two females KafayatAzeez(52kg) and Christiana Victor(57kg). The countries which were at the Cotonou championships include Nigeria, hosts Benin Republic, Congo DR, Cote D’ Ivoire, Togo and Ghana.

 The competition took place at the StadeL’Amite in Cotonou from July 19 to July 22.