Accra-Ghana August 3, 2022
COMMONWEALTH GAMES: ALPHOUS/NANTUO SEAL THREE MATCHES VICTORY ON FIRST DAY OF KNOCKOUT STAGE FOR GHANA BADMINTON
The quest for a medal glory for Ghana will spur up for badminton as the Golden Shuttlers begun a quest to register a debut three wins today at the Ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom
Whilst the three event wins from Team Ghana makes a strong start to progress in events at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham NEC Arena and to qualify for the next knock-out stage. The talented squad did not get a wrong foot in their first three matches to win against Zambia, Sierra Leone, and Falkland Islands.
The golden shuttlers faced a swift return to action with the singles competitions with Ahmed Abdul SAMAD dismantling his Sierra Leonean opponent with a 21-1, 21-1 on the opening day of the Badminton Ghana Matches, in front of a raucous crowd at the NEC Hall. Samad will thus meet with Ajfan RASHEED of Maldives in the round of 32.
The women’s double fledgling pair of TORNYENYOR/NANTUO combination saw Ghana pull apart the Falkland Islanders country from Latin America. The better ranked Falkland Islands female duo fell with a score of 21-17, 22-20 making the Ghanaian female squad progress to the next round igniting a meetup with RICHARDSON Tahlia / WYNTER Katherine from Jamaica in the next round.
Ghana lost the first Mix Double pair of TORNYENYOR/TAMAKLOE to Mauritius, whilst Aaron Tamakloe suffered a defeat from Pakistan’s Men’s Singles Player in the rounds of the match.
The Second Mix Double event became a thriller as Ghana’s best Mix Double pair in ages showed brilliance and over-powered the African highly ranked Mix Double pair from Zambia. The Ghanaian pair beat the Zambians with a score line of 21-19, 21-14, thus progressing to the next stage of the competition.
ALPHOUS was in great form and his devastating combination of powerful smashes and delicate drop shots proved too good for the day and with NANTUO taking great confidence from a solid run that saw the pair win to the admiration and support of the crowd at the 10,000-seater NEC Hal Arena.
“I know the needed to grow courage going into this game as we were not familiar with the Zambian’s, but I actually think I played a lot better in the second set,” ALPHHOUS said.
“It is a game of momentum and although I’d be good, we had different Game plans to counter the opponents, which changed the dynamic of the match, and we think that was the big difference today” Remarked NANTUO
Coach Moses Adu, Ahmed Abdul Samad, Kelvin Evans Alphous (Captain), Cindy Esi Etornam Tornyenyor, Prospera Nantuo, and Aaron Dromo Tamakloe leads the players to represent the National Badminton Team, in 2022 Commonwealth Games-Golden Shuttlers and capitalise on the once in a lifetime opportunity to bring home success for the first time in our own country.
After the national selection criteria, the Badminton players represented Team Ghana across Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles Events
That result sealed Ghana’s progression to the next important round, tomorrow, August 4, 2022, with six matches for the right to earn close to a medal in front of a passionate home crowd.
For full details and the badminton schedule, visit: Badminton (birmingham2022.com)
ENDS