Talent identification of
junior athletes in Kumasi
Accra (Greater Accra)
7 April 2003 - Champion Club Accra Hearts of Oak on Sunday set the tone for
Africa when they walloped Pepple FC of Nigeria 4-0 in a friendly international
match at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The match, which
served as a rehearsal for their Africa Clubs Championship against AS Douane of
Togo, saw the Phobians parading the set likely to feature in the match on
Sunday 13 April. Hearts went straight into action at the blast of the whistle
with Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour's header from a Don Bortey cross hitting the edge of
the crossbar in the 4th minute. Osei-Kuffour, however, made amends
when he connected another cross from Bortey to register the first goal on seven
minutes.
Hearts intensified
their pressure on the Nigerian team from Port Harcourt, owned by Senator
Adewari Pepple, but had to wait till the 34th for the second goal.
Bortey converted a penalty, after Kuffour was brought down in the vital area.
On resumption, Bortey
who created a lot of anxious moments for United defence delivered two crosses
from the right flank for Massawudu Mumuni and Osei-Kuffour to head home for the
third and fourth goals in the 76th and 83rd minutes
respectively.
Due to the late start
of the game, it could not travel the full 90 minutes as visibility became poor
and referee E.Q.M. Osam Quaye had to end it prematurely in the 84th minute.
During recess a
section of Hearts fans demonstrated with placards against what they describe as
unprofessional approach used by archrivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko to poach their
player, Charles Taylor. Some of the placards read "Taylor is not for
sale", "Politics in football can create war" and "GFA come
out with rules of FIFA on the case".
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra)
07 April 2003 - The Golden Rackets, Ghana's men's tennis team on Sunday lost
the reverse singles matches to Slovenia in the Euro-Africa Zone Two Davis Cup
match played at the Centre Court of the Accra Sports Stadium.
By this defeat the
Ghanaians have failed to move into the Euro-African Zone One where their
conquerors would play in the next edition. The losing streak began when Ghana's
top seed, Gunther Darkey lost to his Slovenian counterpart, Tkalec Mark by
three sets to nil to give the visitors an unassailable 3-1 lead. Scores were
6-3, 6-4, 7-6.
Ghana's number two
seed Salifu Mohammed followed it up with a two-straight loss to Bostyau Osabuik
in a formality final match, taking only three games in the two sets. The
Slovenian won 6-1, 6-2. Mark kept his cool and double faulted only once in the
entire game, which lasted two hours, 45 minutes as he proved a cut above his opponent
in all spheres of the game.
The match produced 19
aces with 14 going in favour of Gunther who on the other hand double faulted on
12 occasions as against only one by his rival. The third set was the thriller
of the afternoon as entered a tie-break but it was the Slovenian who prevailed
with his powerful backhand strokes, forcing Gunther to run from one edge of the
court to the other.
Anytime the Ghanaian
attacked, Mark succeeded in drilling home passing shots to draw cheers from the
partisan crowd. On Friday, the two teams tied at one all after Salifu had lost
to Andrej Kracman ans Gunther went past Bostyau Osabuik. The Slovanians won the
doubles to take a 2-1 lead and their double victory on Sunday gives them a 4-1
victory over the Ghanaians
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Accra (Greater Accra)
07 April 2003 - The third in a series of sports seminars, organised by the GIBBONS
Sports Foundation - a Sports NGO, which aims at assisting the lesser-known
sports to develop to an appreciable level - on the role and benefits of sports
has ended at Winneba.
It brought together
50 individuals and corporate bodies from the Awutu Afutu- Senya District of the
Central Region to assess the theme, "Sports, a channel for healthy/financial
benefits for the individual, the community and the nation."
Larry George
Botchway, Executive Director of the Foundation said there was the need for all
to be made aware of the enormous benefits and why the youth should be motivated
to pursue it as a long-term career.
He noted that sports
has a multiplier effect of changing the destiny of both the individual and the
community if managed properly, urging corporate bodies to take key interest in
harnessing budding talents to enhance both the corporate and the individual's
image.
"Sports have a
natural affinity with the youth, which inspires them to strive for excellence.
For those facing hardships, it can build self confidence, encourage
self-sufficiency, personal empowerment and independence," the Executive
Director said.
He said many
sportsmen and sportswomen were unable to reach their full potential because of
the erroneous impression that sports was a recreational activity, thus, letting
many would-be national stars go waste.
He lauded the likes
of Abedi Pele, Azuma Nelson and Ike Quartey for brushing aside all these
stereotype images to pursue sports as a career, which had made them what they
are today.
Botchway commended
President John Agyekum Kufuor for taking the bold decision to merge the Youth
and Sports with the Education Ministry, saying that the three were interlinked
and if properly managed, could produced highly educated sportsmen and sportswomen.
GIBBONS in
collaboration with the Ghana AIDS Foundation and the Sports Ministry would
embark on an outreach programme by the end of the month to educate the youth on
the menace of the "killer" disease.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra)
07 April 2003 - The Second Achimota Golf Club Seniors Group competition in the
year would be played at Achimota in Accra on 10 May.
Michael Ezan,
Chairman of the club's Senior Group, said in Accra on Thursday that the competition
which is being sponsored by the group would attract more than 70 competitors.
He said this year, the group is expected to organise as many as six
competitions and called on members to contribute to its success.
Meanwhile, this
year's Bok Nam Kim Memorial Open Championship will be played at Tema on
Saturday 12 April. About 150 amateur and professional golfers are expected to
participate in the one-day competition.
The event which is
being sponsored by Afko Group of Companies, is in memory of the late Kim, former
Chief Executive Officer of Afko Group of companies who single-handedly
sponsored Ghana’s contingent to the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
He died in 1995.
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Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 07 April 2003 - The National Sports Council (NSC) in conjunction with
the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) will embark on Under-20 talent identification
in athletics at the Kumasi sports stadium from 4-5 April.
A release from the
Ashanti Regional Sports Council signed by W. Adjepong Karikari, Regional Sports
Development Officer, said the competition will involve 120 athletes from all
the 10 regions.
According to the
release, Ashanti and Greater Accra have been allocated a quota of 20 athletes
each while the rest of the regions have 10 quota allocations of athletes each.
It said 17 events would be competed in during the two-day competition for both
men and women athletes. The release said prizes will be awarded for each event
in the first three positions.
GRi…/
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