Team Plateau endured a challenging outing on Day 7 of the 9th National Youth Games, as their medal tally remained unchanged at 19 despite spirited performances across several sports.
Cyclist Rejoice Danjuma came agonisingly close to adding to the medal haul in the Elimination event. After leading the race for most of the laps, she lost steam in the final stretch and finished in fourth place.
In Para Athletics, Gabriel Monday also narrowly missed the podium with a 24.10m throw in the F44 discus event, settling for fourth position.
The racket games produced similar near misses. Plateau’s badminton mixed doubles team bowed out in the quarter-finals against Ogun, while the tennis mixed doubles pair won the opening set before losing the next two to Ogun, also at the quarter-final stage. The squash team’s run ended in the team event.
Scrabble doubles provided some mixed results, with Plateau defeating Edo and the FCT in the early rounds but falling to Delta and Lagos in subsequent matches.
In Chess, the female team managed one win and one draw while losing three rounds, while the male players picked up two wins and one defeat.
As the curtain draws closer on the Games, Plateau’s medal count remains at 19 (3 Gold, 6 Silver, and 10 Bronze) spread across nine sports.
The state will look to Wrestling, Kickboxing, Chess, and Scrabble on Friday, September 5, for a chance to boost its standing.