Lagos set to host 2022 World Fencing Championship

[FILES] Fencing

More than 155 countries are expected to feature in the 2022 World Fencing Championship billed to hold in Lagos in September, Nigeria Fencing Federation President, Adeyinka Samuel has disclosed.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday, Samuel said the stage is set for the championship, which will hold at the Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, on September 11 and 12. He added that the event is a men’s only open championship, which will draw the best fencers in the world to Lagos.

Samuel stated that Nigeria is planning to excel at the championship, adding that the country’s fencers have been undergoing serious training ahead of the competition.

He said: “In 2018, we hosted the Cadet/ Junior Fencing Championship, which featured 150 athletes from 21 countries at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

“As a result of the success we recorded in 2018, we were awarded the same championship, which we hosted in February this year. We had 33 countries in the second championship.

“Now, we are billed to host the World Championship, which involves an individual event on September 10 and a team competition on September 11.”

Samuel disclosed that Nigeria would feature in an African Championship in Morocco this month, World Championship in Egypt and a Commonwealth competition in London as preparation for the Lagos 2022 Championship.

He described the World Championship as part of the events the Fencing Federation has deployed in spreading the sport across Nigeria, adding that fencing is already being practiced in five states, such as Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“We want to make fencing as popular as the Lagos City Marathon, which holds yearly. We have been awarded the hosting right for the World