Chairman, Ogun Shooting Association, Akinola Akinbitan, on Thursday, said that the state’s athletes in shooting would excel at the National Youth Games (NYG), holding from Oct. 10 to Oct. 19 in Kwara.

Akinbitan gave the assurance while presenting the team to the state Director of Sports, Mrs Iyabode Rotimi, in Abeokuta.

The team emerged third with two gold, one silver and three bronze medals at the recently-concluded National Shooting Championship in Delta.

Akinbitan commended the Coach Idris Oguntayo-led team’s performance at the competition, in spite of not being represented by its full squad.

The team lost narrowly to Department of State Security Service (DSS) with three gold medals, while Delta won two gold and two silver medals.

“We are not too surprised with the performance because we have the best shooters. Even though we did not go there with our full team, we still performed brilliantly, having prepared well for the championship.

“We are looking forward, as an association, to making Ogun the hub of shooting games in Nigeria.

“At the moment, we have lots of potentials to produce shooters to represent the country at major international competitions and compete with the very best in the world,” Akinbitan said.

The chairman particularly commended the efforts of a physically-challenged female shooter, Amos Odesanya, who retained his number one position in pistol category, after winning gold at the event.

5G: NACCIMA welcomes approval, seeks collaboration with private sector

He also expressed appreciation to the state government for the moral and financial supports to the shooters.

“We really commend the sports council for providing a conducive environment for the shooters to thrive.

“We expect a better outing at the coming national youth games, because the shooters are gradually hitting form,” Akinbitan said.

The team emerged overall best at the 2019 edition of the games, with two gold and a bronze.