Edidiong Umoafia (left) and Ruth Asuquo
By Edidiong Stephen
The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Sports, Elder Paul Bassey, has charged the 2025 Commonwealth Championship Athletes in India to be of good Ambassadors.
Bassey was speaking on the hills of the departure of two Akwa Ibom-born athletes, Ruth Asuquo and Edidiong Umoafia that arrived Ahmedabad, India, as part of the delegation to represent Nigeria in the sport of weightlifting at the 2025 Commonwealth Championship which commences today, Monday, August 25, in the south Asian country.
In a chat this morning, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Sports, Elder Paul Bassey, said, “the selection of the duo was in tandem with the sports vision of Governor Umo Eno”.
He said the Governor expects Akwa Ibom youths to arise to full potential in their chosen fields of endeavour.
Bassey expressed confidence in the ability of the two athletes to qualify from the championship for next year’s Glasgow Games and urged them “to compete fairly and by the book, and exude character” that would portray them as “the good ambassadors of the state” that they already are throughout their stay in India.
Ruth, who is competing in the women’s 48kg category, is making a maiden appearance at the championship while Edidiong, who is competing in the men’s 71kg category, is putting in an appearance at the global showpiece for the second time on the trot having also participated in 2021 edition in Uzbekistan where he qualified and went on to win a bronze medal for Nigeria in the men’s 67kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Also selected to join Ruth and Edidiong as part of the Nigerian weightlifting delegation to the championship are, Omolola Onome (women’s 53kg), Favour Agboro (men’s 65kg), Rafiatu Lawal (women’s 58kg), Ruth Ayodele (women’s 58kg), and Islamiyat Yusuf (women’s 69kg).
Others are, Adeda Adelaka (men’s 79kg), Sarah Matthew (women’s 77kg), Brenda Uchenna (women’s 86kg), Mary Osijo (women’s +86kg), and Lucky Joseph (men’s +110kg).
The Commonwealth Championship will be held from August 25 to 30, 2025, in Ahmedabad, India, while the Commonwealth Games have been scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 2, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Commonwealth Championship, which is held every four years, serves as the qualification tournament for the Commonwealth Games, with this year’s championship serving as the qualifiers for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
