Olympian and multiple African Championships medalist, Dorcas Adesokan, led team Ogun to gold in the women’s badminton team event on Wednesday, beating arch rivals Edo State 3-2 in a frenetic final at the Alake Sports Complex.
Adesokan, the previous Nigerian number one, Aminat Ilori (7) and Omotola Felicia (22) equaled Edo State’s strength, which included Blessing Ihenslekhlen, Ruth Ebere, and Deborah Ukeh, the current number one and number two.
Edo forced the match into the doubles by winning the final singles match to make it 2-1, but Ogun State won two singles to win the championship in a final decided by three singles and two doubles.
In the final set, Ogun rallied to win the tense match 3-2 after Edo claimed the first doubles to tie the score at 2-2.
“I’ve won three gold medals in the singles event at the festival before, but we missed out on the team event gold the last time. So, I have been hoping that we take back that women’s team title and finally we have done it. It feels really good to have done that against a very good team like Edo,” Adesokan told our correspondent.
To advance into the final, both Ogun and Edo States were made to sweat by Lagos and Rivers States, respectively, with both semi-finals stretching into the doubles.
Both Lagos and Rivers States shared the bronze medal in the event.
The women’s team event produced the first set of medals in the event, which started on Monday, while hostilities continued in the men’s team event.
The badminton event continues on Thursday (today) at the Alake Sports Complex, with singles and doubles events taking the centre stage.