Bilal can be world champion - Trainer
Accra (Greater Accra)
16 April 2003 - Nana Yaw Boateng, Koforidua based table tennis player is still
leading the monthly ranking released by the Ghana Table Tennis Association for
the month of March.
Boateng, is leading
the table with 26 points out of three tournaments he has played so far,
followed by Kofi Larbi of Greater Accra with 18 points and Courage Nanevie of
Ghana Navy having 16 points to place third. Others on the monthly ranking are
Solomon Akunor fourth position with 13 points, while Aikins Acquah, David Mills
and Joseph Adjei are having eight points apiece to place fifth, sixth and
seventh positions respectively. Gama Narh from the central region is occupying
the eight position with four points.
In the females
division, Esther Lamptey of Ghana Police tops the ranking with ten points,
while Efua Oforiwaa and Beatrice Gyasi of the Central and Ashanti Regions
follow with eight and six points respectively.
Rachael Arko and
Florence Sarpong of the Fire Service are on the fourth and fifth positions with
five and four points respectively. Gertrude Amui, Lynda Annor all of Greater
Accra are sixth and seventh on the ranking with three and two points each with
Fauzia Amadu occupying the eight position with a single point.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra)
16 April 2003 - Defending league champions, Accra Hearts of Oak, would on
Sunday April 20, host Alhaji Grusah's King Faisal in a friendly game at the
nation's Wembley, Accra Sports Stadium.
The match dubbed
"The Herbert Mensah challenge match" would be the first time both
Hearts and Faisal would be meeting in the year. Hearts would be using the match
to prepare for their second leg match against As Douane of Togo on 27 April,
while Faisal are in the preparatory stages for the 2003 premier league.
The game, an
initiative of newly appointed president of Faisal, Herbert Mensah, is the
team's third competitive game in the year since the former Kotoko CEO took over
the administration of the Kumasi based club.
An official of Hearts
told the GNA Sports that the match is expected to produce enough excitement
irrespective of its friendly nature and urged football fans to troop to the
stadium. According to the official the usual rivalry that had characterized
encounters between both teams over the last few years would be at Sunday.
GRi…/
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Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 16 April 2003 - Twenty-one-year-old Kwesi Ahenkora on Sunday won the
maiden Vice-Chancellor's (VC) open tennis competition at the Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology (KNUST) senior staff club's court in
Kumasi when he beat Patrick Nortey of Accra Golden Tulip tennis club by two
straight sets 6-2, 7-5 in the men's singles final match.
Nortey who had
earlier on lost to Ahenkora in four previous encounters and was seeking
revenge, rather found the Davies cup player a hard nut to crack, as he had no
answers to most of his forehand shots which he volleyed into the net.
Ahenkora who started
his career in Kumasi some years ago, but decided to move camp to Accra,
dismissed the bluff of his opponents in just about 50 minutes to win the giant
VC's cup and the ¢1m cash prize at stake whilst Nortey took home ¢700,000 as
the second prize.
Emmanuel Holm of the
Royal Ravico tennis club in Accra had it easy ousting Edmund Quarcoo of Accra
Golden Tulip tennis club and consequently took home ¢450,000 as the third prize
while Quarcoo took home ¢350,000 as the fourth prize.
The pairing of
Ahenkora and Nortey vis-à-vis Robert Botwe of Accra Golden Tulip and Zakari
Mohammed of Ashanti tennis club in the men's doubles final was a total
mis-match, as the former took the first set 6-0, the latter scratched in the
early stages of the first game in the second set.
With that feat,
Ahenkora and Nortey were given ¢500,000 as the first prize, ¢350,000 as the
second prize for Botwe and Zakari whilst ¢225,000 each was given as third and
fourth prizes to Stephen Mensah of KNUST who paired Stephen Lamptey of Accra
American Apartment Tennis Club, and Emmanuel Holm who paired Edmund Quarcoo
respectively, though they could not honour their third place match.
In the women's
singles final match, Ivy Aryeetey confirmed her superiority in women's tennis
in the country by outplaying all her opponents enroute to the finals and
clinched the first prize on Sunday when she defeated Kate Coleman, also a
national tennis player, by two straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
For her prize, the
18-year-old national women's tennis team top seed, took home 500,000 cedis with
Coleman receiving ¢300,000 as the second prize whilst Nana Esi Amoah of KNUST
took the third prize of ¢200,000 for beating Rosemary Martey of Ashanti Tennis
Club, who had ¢100,000 as her fourth prize.
The third place match
which was played in only a set ended 6-4 in favour of the KNUST tennis player,
who was also using the four-day competition as preparation towards the 11th
West Africa Inter-University Games (WAUG) slated for Burkina Faso in December
this year.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra)
16 April 2003 - Jones Neequaye, trainer of national lightweight boxing
contender, Bilal Mohammed has predicted that his ward would be a world champion
if he continued to thread the path of discipline and dedication.
"Bilal has a
great future and he needs to be pushed into frequent fights to enable him to
realise his full potentials as a world champion."
Reacting to the first
round knockout victory of his boxer over Kumah Doe in an under card of the ABU
title fight between Mike Kizza and Kpakpo Allotey on Saturday, the trainer said
the triumph was characteristic of Bilal because of the amount of power he carries
in his right hooks. Saturday's victory raised Bilal's record to seven fights,
six wins- all by knockout and one loss.
Neequaye, who is the
chief coach of Painax Boxing Club at James Town in Accra praised his boxer for
his ability to learn quickly, adding that with such a depth of talent and
discipline, Bilal was poised to be 'another great warrior,' in apparent
reference to Azumah Nelson.
Reacting to the
coach's laudable remarks about him, the boxer said he had great respect for his
trainer and would not do anything to go against his instructions. He said he
would train harder in order to meet the expectations of his trainer and dared
any credible opponent in the lightweight class to come forward and fight him.
"I want to fight
but not just anybody. He who thinks he is a good boxer should come forward and
face me and we shall see the stronger of the two," Bilal concluded.
GRi…/
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Tema (Greater Accra) 16 April 2003 - The annual Ghana Amateur Gold Open championship, the biggest event on the country’s golfing calendar is here with us with the Tema Country Golf Course off the Tema-aflao international trunk road as the venue.
The four-day event the auspices of the Ghana Golf Association and sponsored by Silver Star Auto, local dealers in Mercedes Benz cars, trucks and accessories in association with others will tee off on Friday 18 April 2003.
A flag raising ceremony at 9.30 am to welcome all captains and participants, to be followed by an extraordinary meeting of the GGA and a cocktail party at the spacious club house of the club, all on Friday will kick-start the competition.
The annual golf extravaganza which is in its 71st edition has grown in participation in recent times and this year’s appears to be gearing for a record entry. The main event- the men and ladies 54-hole action (scratch and handicap) with the newly created youth championship for the under-16s will be action packed.
Five youthful golfers who have dominated the competition recently, Kojo Banini (Kumasi), J. Love (Tafo), Vincent Torgah and E. Gakpetor (Tema) and D. Aryeetey (Takoradi) who have been classified as pro-trainees are disqualified from participation.
Their absence however will not be felt as equally single their absence however will not be felt as equally single digit performers will take their place to do battle with their more tried, tested, seasoned senior campaigners from clubs like Awaso, Benso, Windy Bay, Obuasi, Tafo and Bok-Nam Kim clubs.
Of course, host club Tema, achimota, Kumasi, Takoradi and Celebrity will provide the core challengers in T.K. Agama, Lee Mensah (the gold evangelist), D. Atuwo, Mawuli Ababi9o, (Achimota), Kwadwo Kyei, A. Boatey, F. Owusu-Ansah Bassel Hage, Y.B. Otchere (Kumasi), George Osei, P. Korsah and S. Essuman (Takoradi), F.K. Asorgba, Frank Sogbordjor, E.K. Henaku, E.T. Mensah all from Tema.
The ladies action as usual will be a straight fight between the indomitable Mona Captan of Achimota immediate past lady captain of Tema and the scientific one Florence Etwi Barimah. Whiles Florence will have Grace Komladzei, Valentine Manteaw, Esther Afrakoma, Antwi, Esi Cobinna for support Mona will have the likes of Fracesca Vandyke, Elizabeth Quartey, Susie Abaloo, Rose Ayivor and others to give the event the hype.
It will be four days of golfing for the country’s golfing fraternity from all corners of the country with perhaps a few from neighbouring Togo joining in the fray.
GRi…/
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