Nigeria concluded their campaign at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with the Open team finishing 118th while the women placed 85th after 11 rounds of competition.
The Open team ended the tournament with 10 match points after losing 2½-1½ to Hong Kong, China, in the final round on September 27. Nigeria had entered the tournament as the 84th seed.
Bomo Lovet Kigigha provided Nigeria’s only victory in the closing tie, defeating Niilo Nissinen on the top board, while Odey Goodness Ekunke drew with Ho Cheung Wong. Odion Aikhoje and Bartholomew Okhipo lost their respective games as Hong Kong secured the match.
Ekunke finished as Nigeria’s highest scorer in the Open section with six points from 11 games. Abdulrahman Akintoye followed with 5½ points from 10 appearances, while Kigigha and Aikhoje recorded 4½ points each from nine and 10 games respectively.
More Read
Nigeria’s women ended with 11 match points and finished 85th after also losing their final-round encounter 2½-1½, this time against Syria. Deborah Quickpen defeated Roula Mahmoud on the top board and Sandra Omoruyi drew against Naya Bofroud, but defeats for Iyefu Onoja and Michelle Nwankwo handed Syria the victory.
Omoruyi was Nigeria’s leading scorer in the women’s competition, collecting 6½ points from 11 games. Bridget Michael scored 5½ points from nine appearances, while Quickpen also finished with 5½ points, having played 10 games. Nwankwo recorded 4½ points from nine games.
The women had produced one of their strongest results in the penultimate round, beating Guatemala 3-1 through victories from Quickpen, Onoja and Omoruyi, before the final-day defeat to Syria.
Hosts Uzbekistan won the Open competition with 20 match points after recording 10 victories in 11 rounds, ahead of India and Germany, who both finished on 18 points. China won the women’s title unbeaten with 20 match points, ahead of Kazakhstan on 18 and India on 17.
© Bold Sports Media. All rights reserved. If sharing, kindly credit Bold Sports as the source and include a link to the original post. Unauthorised use is prohibited.
