Nigeria's Blessing Oborududu wins Gold at World Wrestling tournament in Turkey

Nigeria's Blessing Oborududu won gold in the 68kg category of the Hamit Kaplan Ranking Series in Istanbul, Turkey on Friday, February 25, 2022.

The Olympic medalist and celebrated female wrestler defeated Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan 3-2 to clinch the medal.

Oborududu was full of confidence going into the fight after their previous meeting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The 32-year-old Oborududu stated after the fight that she learned lessons from that Tokyo bout.

She said. "I wrestled her in the quarterfinals in Tokyo, but here, I knew it would be tougher.

"I had to keep myself from attacking too much. My coach told me to move before attacking. I can say it was easy."

Victory in Istanbul was Oborududu's first Ranking Series gold after two silver and a bronze-medal finish.

Oborududu was also gracious in victory stating that Zhumanazarov might not have been at her best in Istanbul.

She added, "She was a bit better in Tokyo than here because everyone prepares better for the Olympics.

"I needed to be careful to get gold. In Tokyo, I attacked to get two points and then one passivity to win, 3-2. That was difficult.

"I am so excited. Now I have African Championships in May and then the Commonwealth Games. I want to win a world medal in September."

Oborududu now has her sights set for the 2022 World Wrestling Championships scheduled to take place in Belgrade, Serbia in September.