Favour Ashe and Nzubechi Nwokocha led the pack as all Nigerian sprinters on Tuesday qualified for the next heats in the 100m Round 1 at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK.
Ashe was Nigeria’s first runner, finishing first in Round 1, Heat 1 of the men’s 100m in 10.12secs, above England’s Nethaneel Blake (10.14secs) and St Kitts and Nevis’ Nadale Buntin (10.37secs).
Ashe’s time would prove to be the best of all Nigerian sprinters on the day, as Raymond Ekevwo, who came closest, recorded 10.14secs to narrowly edge out Jamaica’s Kemar Cole (10.15secs) to second place in Heat 4.
In Heat 6, Godson Oghenebrume finished third in 10.36secs, behind Sri Lanka’s Yupun Abeykoon (10.06secs), the only runner to beat Ashe’s time, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Kion Benjamin (10.34secs).
Nzubechi Nwokocha finished first in Round 1, Heat 1 of the women’s 100m with a time of 10.99secs above New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (11.09secs) and England’s Asha Philip (11.27secs).
Rosemary Chukwuma also finished first in Heat 4 at 11.02secs, above Botswana’s Oarabile Tshosa (11.40secs) and Guyana’s Jasmine Abrams (11.41secs).
In Heat 5, Joy Udo-Gabriel produced her season’s best of 11.43secs to finish third behind Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye (11.14secs) and The Bahamas’ Tynia Gaither (11.19secs).
In Group B of the Women’s Shot Put qualifying round, Orobosa Frank finished fifth with a throw of 16.27m earning her a qualification to the next round.
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