Cross River and Oyo states are sending a total of 656 athletes and officials to the forthcoming National Sports Festival in Asaba, the capital of Delta State.
The 21st edition of the sports festival is scheduled to be held from November 28 to December 10.
According to the chairman of Cross River State Sports Commission, Emmanuel Elom, the state will be represented by a total of 360 athletes and officials at the biennial sporting event.
He made this known on Wednesday in Calabar when he received the Torch of Unity at the UJ Esuene stadium.
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Elom said the state will compete in only sports where it has comparative advantage.
“We hope to make a better impact because we are going for sports that we know we can excel in. These include swimming, table tennis, tennis, wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, judo, kung-fu, chess amongst others.
“We’re very prepared. We started preparing actively for this festival over three months ago. We want to take Asaba 2022 by storm”, Elom boasted.
Meanwhile, a total of 296 athletes will represent Oyo State in 32 events at the sports festival.
The chairman, Oyo State Sports Council, Hon. Gbenga Adewusi, said the state was not leaving any stone unturned to ensure adequate preparation with a view to emerging victorious at the games in Asaba.
“We came fifth at the 2020 edition of the sports festival in Benin City. We also emerged second overall position at the first National Para-Games tagged “Abuja 2022”.
“We are all basking in the euphoria of the outstanding performance of our three weightlifters that won gold, silver and bronze respectively at the Commonwealth games held in Birmingham,” he said.
By Eyo Charles Calabar & Jeremiah Oke, Ibadan
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