Nigeria continued its impressive outing at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, securing a third gold medal in para powerlifting, while experiencing mixed results in boxing and 3×3 basketball.
Twenty-three-year-old Riluwan Idris delivered another outstanding performance, winning the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting event to claim Nigeria’s third gold medal of the Games. Idris opened with a successful 200kg lift before raising the bar to an impressive 208kg, comfortably finishing ahead of England’s Matthew Harding, who took silver, and Malaysia’s Nicodemus Manggoi Moses, who claimed bronze.
Although Idris was unable to surpass the Games record with his final attempt, his victory further strengthened Nigeria’s dominance in para powerlifting.
With six medals already won—all from para powerlifting—Team Nigeria has now surpassed its performance at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, where it secured two gold medals and a total of five medals in the sport.
However, Nigeria’s boxing campaign suffered setbacks as Abdulramon Abdulwahab lost 5-0 to Uganda’s Nuhu Batte in the men’s 65kg bout, while Ayomide Hassan also fell 4-0 to Lesotho’s Refiloe Thai.
In the 3×3 basketball event, Team Nigeria opened with an encouraging 21-17 victory over the Cayman Islands but later suffered defeats to Australia (21-15) and New Zealand (21-10), leaving the team with mixed results in the competition.
