The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, is confident that Nigeria will surpass its past record at the ongoing Commonwealth Games.
Dalung gave the assurance despite the country’s poor start at the Games in Gold Coast, which enters Day 3 on Saturday.
He said: “The Games have just started and our team has prepared very well. Although the early start has not been quite impressive as we expected, that does not suggest that that’s what we are expecting. We are quite hopeful that we will surpass our records in this Games. We should not be discouraged by the poor start. The team is in high spirit and the officials are dutifully working round the clock. Our aim is to make the country proud.”
The Men’s Team Table Tennis Quarter final 3 is between Nigeria and hosts Australia at 7am Nigerian time at the Oxenford Studios.
On Friday, Nigeria’s team of Olajide Omotayo, Bode Abiodun and Azeez Jamiu defeated Malaysia 3-1 and Belize 3-0 to advance from the group stage.
In boxing on Friday, Millicent Agboegbulem defeated Salte Huni of Tonga 5-0 in the Women’s 75kg Round of 16.
The Minister was accompanied by the President, Nigeria Olympic Committee, Engr. Habu Gumel; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Olusade Adesola; and the Director Planning, Monitoring and Implementation, Hauwa Kulu Akinyemi, to cheer the boxer.
Earlier in the Women’s Weightlifting 53kg, Nigeria’s Fatima Yakubu failed to finish.