Gateway Games 2024: Ogun Athletes Shine In Handball Contest

The host state in the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival, Ogun, showcased dominance with wins in handball events concluded on Tuesday at venues of competitions across the state.

In the women handball contest at the Alake Sports Centre in Abeokuta, the state’s female team trounced their Kogi State counterparts with 32-20 points.

The tension – soaked encounter witnessed Team Ogun dominating the first half by scoring 16 goals, while Team Kogi managed to pull 11 goals.

In the same vein, the male football match played at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne-Remo, Team-Ogun defeated the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja 3-1 with Joseph Abba grabbing a brace in the match.

Speaking to Journalists after the match, head coach of Ogun Team’s handball, Shola Sekoni expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance and commended the state government for providing the enabling environment.

“I must first thank the Governor (Dapo Abiodun) for giving us this game. We just started, so I will give them 50 percent. I believe we are qualifying and we are getting to the final.

“At the beginning, it was great but when we saw that we were losing energy later we had to change our game.

“They cannot understand our pattern. Our next match is against Plateau, our girls are not leaving any stone unturned to ensure we win,” he said

Also, his counterpart for Team Kogi, Emeka Joseph expressed optimism that his team will bounce back stronger in their next outing against Plateau State despite losing to Ogun.

“The girls did very well even though we couldn’t win the match. They played their best. We lost, but we are still satisfied while we prepare for the next match against Plateau State.

“We are not giving up, I believe we are going to win the next match,” he said.