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Despite missing out at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Nigeria still had historical moments in sports in 2022
With the year coming to an end, Nigeria’s sports lovers, athletes, sports administrators, sports journalists, and technical officials can reflect on a loaded calendar year of sporting activities in the country, in which Nigeria failed to qualify for some Major international football competitions.
No doubt table tennis, Cricket, National Sports Festival have put smiles on the faces of over 200 million Nigerians.
The major moments in Nigeria sports in 2020 were, Tobi Amusan's historical feat at the World Championships in Oregon, National Sports Festival, the ITTF Africa table tennis festival in Lagos, the Nigeria Cricket team conquering Africa, and Nigeria U17 historical feat in India, among other sporting activities.
Tobi Amusan rules the World
Oluwatobiloba Ayomide 'Tobi' Amusan, was the major talking point for Nigeria Athletics this year, after her historical performance at the World Championships in Oregon, where she won the 100m Hurdles World title and ran a World Record (WR) time of 12.12s.
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Doing this, she became Nigeria's first ever outdoor World Champion and WR holder. A few weeks later at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she successfully defended her Commonwealth title clocking a Games Record (GR) time of 12.30s - another first in Nigeria athletics history.
Amusan capped off her outstanding season at the Diamond League in Zurich, where against all odds retained her title, running a fantastic Meeting Record (MR) of 12.29s, thereby becoming Nigeria's first ever athlete to win two Diamond League trophies.
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Her fantastic performances this season earned her a spot among the five finalists for the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year Award, finishing second runner-up behind USA's Sydney McLaughlin and Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Flamingos' historical feat in India
Nigeria’s women's U17 team known as Flamingos returned to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after a six-year absence.
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Coach Bankole Olowookere led the team to set a new record for the team after winning the bronze medal in India.
Flamingos' previous best finish at the tournament was the quarterfinal which they reached on three out of five appearances (2010, 2012, and 2014).
Aruna Quadri, the first African to Rank top 10 in the world
Aruna Quadri became the first African to rank top ten in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings.
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In May, the Nigerian was ranked number ten in the world making him the first Nigerian or a black table tennis player to break into the top echelon of the ping pong game.
The former world player of the year also won the men’s singles title at the ITTF African Championship in Algeria in September.
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Quadri had an incredible year with his performance in international games. The Oyo-born will end the year as world number 15th with 1745 points.
Ese Brume's maestro performance
Africa's undisputed Long Jump queen, Ese Brume, was one of the athletes that provided special moments for Nigerians around the world.
Brume opened her brilliant title winning season by securing a Silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, which was Nigeria's only medal at the championship.
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Thereafter, the African Record (AR) holder was Nigeria's second medallist behind Amusan at the World Championships in Oregon, winning a Silver medal in the event. This was an upgrade from the Bronze medal she won at the last edition in Doha 2019, thereby becoming the first Nigerian athlete to win two consecutive medals at the World Championships.
Then at the Commonwealth Games, Brume regained her Commonwealth title from 2014, by leaping to a Games Record (GR) of 7.00m. Also, she became the first African athlete in history to jump over the 7.00m mark four times in a season.
Rivers United Historic NPFL Champion
Rivers United won the Nigeria Professional football League (NPFL) for the first time in the club's history.
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The Port Harcourt-based side won the league with 77 points from 38 games and was declared champions with three games to end the season.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike rewarded the players with $20,000, over 12 million naira for winning NPFL.
Super Falcons pick world cup ticket
Nigeria’s Super Falcons finished fourth at the 12th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
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For the first time, Super Falcons didn't win a medal at the AFCON since the commencement of the competition.
Super Falcons is the most successful nation in the tournament.
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Nigeria, Morocco, Zambia, and Senegal will represent Africa at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia & New Zealand next year.
Golden Eaglets’ Won WAFU
The Nigeria U-17 team won the regional WAFU B U-17 tournament in Cape Coast, Ghana.
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Nigeria qualified for the Africa U17 Championship in Algeria next year and the tournament will produce Africa’s flag bearers to next year’s FIFA U17 World Cup in Peru.
21st National Sports Festival in Delta State
The highlight of Nigeria's sporting events will be the 21st National sports festival in Delta state.
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The festival was earlier scheduled to be held in Asaba, Delta State from November 2-15, 2022, but was later held from December 4-10.
The host dominated the festival with 648 medals, 320 Gold Medals, 200 Silver Medals, and 128 Bronze Medals. Bayelsa State finished second with a total number of 337 medals, 132 Gold medals, 115 silver medals, and 90 Bronze medals while Edo State finished third with 339 medals, 78 gold medals, 94 silver medals, and 167 bronze medals.
Oyo state finished fourth on the log to set a record of winning 50 gold medals in a single national sports festival. The state won 163 medals, 51 silver, and 62 bronze. Lagos finished fifth with 172 medals, 41 gold medals, 57 silver medals, and 74 bronze medals.
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A total of 2652 medals were won by 35 states and FCT Abuja in 38 games, with only Zamfara state failing to win a single medal.
ITTF Africa Cup in Lagos
Lagos is known for its colorful hosting of Table tennis in Africa. The Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos hosted the 2022 ITTF Africa Cup.
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The 2000-capacity venue was filled up with the atmosphere of electrified Lagos fans for the Seven days event.
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Egypt's Omar Assar reclaimed his men’s singles title after beating Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna 4-3 in the final.
In the Women's category, Fourteen-year-old Hana Goda became the youngest winner of the ITTF Africa Cup.
Africa Youth Games Triumph
Nigeria's Young athletes excelled at the All-Africa youth games in Egypt.
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Cairo city hosted the fourth edition of the game with Nigerian athletes who are between the age of 14-18 making the county proud.
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