The sprinter made it look easy as he claimed top spot in the 100 meters heat
Ghana’s 100 metres runner Benjamin Azamati has just won the Men’s 100m heat 7 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games ongoing at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old clocked 10.19 and now heads to the next stage.
Despite his wonderful start, Azamati will have to shrug off competitions from the likes of Kenyans’ Ferdinand Omanyala and others in order to grab a medal in the event.
More to follow….
The youngster narrowly lost his bout which could have seen him drawing nearer to the medal zone but insists his colleagues will make amends
Ghanaian Flyweight boxer Samuel Yaw Addo has expressed his disappointment after narrowly losing the round of 16 bout to in the ongoing Commonwealth Games at Birmingham, UK.
The 22-year-old was one of the highly-rated boxers to win a medal at the Games for Team Ghana but errors and points deductions ended his dream.
“I have lost but I think it’s all because I was fighting on a foreign land. The referee deducted some points from my accumulated ones which were unnecessary,” a dissatisfied Addo told AshesGyamera.com’s editor Evans Gyamera-Antwi in Birmingham, UK.
Amid his disappointment, Addo is optimistic that his colleagues will make him and the country proud.
“Despite my defeat and inability to progress to the medal zone, I believe Team Ghana can win at least four medals.
“Abdul Omar Wahib, Joshua Commey and the others have the potentials to win medals and they will do that especially in boxing. Ghanaians should pray for them,” he added.
Joseph Commey, Abraham Mensah and Abdul Omar Wahib have reached the quarterfinals stage in Boxing at 2022 Commonwealth Games on Featherweight, Bantamweight and Light Welterweight division respectively.
The trio will be in action again on Wednesday for a place in the semifinals which will guarantee them a medal.
The youngster was left devasted after he narrowly missed the chance to fight for a medal in the Boxing category
Ghanaian boxer Samuel Yaw Addo was defeated by Great Britain’s Clepson Antonio Dos Santos Paiva in Round of 16 of 48-51kg Boxing category at 2022 Commonwealth Games ongoing in Birmingham, UK.
The 22-year-old was having an upper hand but was penalised for an illegal strike which affected him in the points build up.
Although, the Ghanaians around who watched the bout were not happy with the referee’s decisions and judgements, their protests ended on a deaf ear.
Meanwhile, three Ghanaian boxers Joseph Commey, Abraham Mensah and Abdul Omar Wahib have reached the quarterfinals stage in Boxing at 2022 Commonwealth Games on Featherweight, Bantamweight and Light Welterweight division respectively.
The 22-year-old has made it to the last two of the Men’s Swimming competition as he hopes to win his first-ever Commonwealth Games
Ghana’s Abeiku Jackson has given the country a major boost at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as he has reached the semifinals of Men’s 100 metres Butterfly in Swimming on Monday in Birmingham.
After the Ghanaian contingent suffered several setbacks following defeats to some boxers, swimmers and the Hockey team, Jackson brought a sign of relief to the faces of Ghanaians in Birmingham.
The youngster made a time of 53:60 to book a place in the last two and would be hoping to make it to the final and possibly win Ghana’s first medal at the competition.
Out of eight swimmers, Jackson finished fifth behind Jamie Ingram who toppled the group, Jacob Thomas Taylor Peters, Cody Simpson and Finlay Knox.
Ghana's Abeiku Jackson is just a step away from winning the country's first medal at 2022 Commonwealth Games after he qualified to the semifinals of Men's 100m butterfly on Monday.
— Evans Gyamera-Antwi (ASHES)
The youngster made a time of 53:60 to book a place in the last two.#CommonwealthGameswithAshes pic.twitter.com/MnSg223LTs(@ashesgyamera) August 1, 2022
Abeiku, who is hoping to beat Ghana’s all-time record of 53:39 which he set in 2020 in Japan, became the first Ghanaian to participate in Swimming at the Olympic Games in 2016 at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In other news, Ghanaian boxers Joseph Commey and Abdul Omar Wahib have reached the quarterfinals stage in Boxing at 2022 Commonwealth Games on Featherweight and Light Welterweight division respectively.
The duo is gradually becoming the country’s medal hopefuls as they edge closer to the medal zone
Ghana’s boxing prodigies Joseph Commey and Abdul Omar Wahib have reached the quarterfinals stage in Boxing at 2022 Commonwealth Games ongoing in Birmingham, UK.
Early on Monday, Wahib showed class as he brushed aside his opponent, Elia Rokobuli of Fiji islands to make it to the last eight.
Later in the day, Commey, who is fighting in the Featherweight division, joined Wahib as the two Ghanaians to reach quarterfinals stage after defeating Allan Oiake of Papua New Guinea.
Wabib began his journey at the games with a win over Jamie Devine from Isle Of Man last week to reach Round of 16 at the National Exhibition Centre Hall 4 in Birmingham, UK.
The 2016 Olympian and 2014 Commonwealth Games won in a split decision as majority of the judges went to his favour over Jamie Devine.
Also in Boxing, Abubakar Quartey lost to Nigerian Adeyinka Benson in the round of 16 by a score of 3–2 in the Middleweight division on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a lot of Ghanaians are patiently waiting for athletics to begin on Friday as they believe that Ghana’s 4×100 relay team could make a giant stride and at least win a bronze medal after they finished fifth in the World Athletic Championship.
The 28-year-old defied the odds to make it to the next stage of the competition as he brushed aside his opponent
Ghana’s Abdul Wahib Omar made it to the next stage of 2022 Commonwealth Games Light Weltherweight division in Boxing on Friday at the National Exhibition Centre Hall 4 in Birmingham, UK.
The 2016 Olympian and 2014 Commonwealth Games won in a split decision as majority of the judges went to his favour over Jamie Devine from Isle Of Man
The 28-year-old made a gigantic entrance into the bout as he landed a heavy blow on the right cheek of which nearly sent his opponent to the ground.
Although, Wahib won both the first and second rounds, Devine nearly forced the bout to a draw in the final stages as he recovered from his early slumber.
Wahib will now prepare to take on another opponent on Saturday in a bid to win a medal for Ghana.
Before today’s bout, Black Bombers coach Asare said: “We have prepared and we are determined to win against all opposition and all odds.”
The West African country will have to fall on two substitutes from the local scene as two athletes were denied visas
Ghana Athletics Association has made two changes to the highly-rated men’s 4x100m relay team a day to the start of 2022 Commonwealth Games to be staged in Birmingham, United Kingdom, AshesGyamera.com can confirm.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games have been scheduled to kick start on July 28 to August 8, 2022 with 72 participating countries and over 1,000 athletes.
After the team finished fifth at the just ended World Athletic Championship held in Oregon, United States, Joseph Oduro Manu sought permission from the country’s Athletic Association to be excused so that he can attend to some pressing private issues.
Also, Emmanuel Yeboah who was the substitute to the quartet at the World Athletic Championship was surprisingly denied a UK visa by the Home Office and will now miss the games despite hoping to make a mark.
As a result, University of Ghana prodigy Abdul-Rasheed Sadique and Barnabas Agerh of the University for Development Studies will fill the void as the duo are already in Birmingham.
The duo will add up to Benjamin Azamati who arrived at the games’ village on Wednesday, Joseph Paul and Sean Safo-Antwi in Ghana’s attempt to annex the ultimate.
Although, many Ghanaians confidence have dropped following the unfortunate news, it should be recalled that Saminu and Barnabas were part of the Ghana 4x100m relay team that clinched a silver medal at the Invitational Relay competition in Nigeria in June and could replicate that feat.
The Porcupines will now be wearing a jersey with the picture of their life patron ahead of 2022/23 season
Asante Kotoko have unveiled their home and away jerseys for 2022/23 season.
The jerseys have picture of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II – owner and ruler of Ashanti kingdom
Kotoko will use the jerseys for Caf Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.
Kotoko won 2021/22 Ghana Premier League title in a grand style after missing the previous one.
Oku showed ‘what is possible’ with his performance in Tokyo, but vows to improve even more for Paris 2024
If you need an example of how the Paralympic Games can inspire athletes of the future, look no further than Emmanuel Oku. The 31-year-old was watching television at home in Accra, Ghana six years ago when something caught his attention.
“The Rio 2016 Paras came on, and I saw these guys coming on in wheelchairs and lifting weights,” he said. “I thought, ‘I could do that’. It got me interested.
“I went down to the gym and eventually a friend introduced me to the Para powerlifting team of Ghana. I watched them train for a while and then I gave it a go. A year later, I was at my first event representing my country.”
It was part of an extraordinary journey for Oku, whose left leg was amputated after he was shot in the thigh in a freak gun accident while working as a palace guard in 2013.
“It was an unfortunate incident and afterwards it was tough to recover, and I could have got very down about the amputation. But I decided I had to move on with my life,” he said.
Oku, who previously worked as an electrical engineer, found a new job in a school with the help of an aunt and devoted his spare time to Para powerlifting.
“I love everything about it,” the athlete said. “I have always liked the gym, and I did some bodybuilding before my injury.
“It is not always easy here in Ghana, with the facilities we have. I train at the Accra Sports Stadium and it’s a gym for weightlifting, not Para powerlifting. All we have is the bench press really, not the specialist weight equipment that might help us, like shoulder and triceps machines.”
Nonetheless, Oku has progressed quickly in the sport and competed at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games where he was Ghana’s flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony.
“That was a great honour, a very proud and special experience for me. I was very happy in Tokyo. The (Paralympic) Village was great and I met so many people. I enjoyed the technology in Japan and how easy it was to get around.”
Oku believes he can improve upon his Tokyo performance, where he placed seventh in the men’s up to 72kg competition, at the next Paralympic Games in Paris.
“I did OK but I’d like to get better for Paris. The weights I did were not my best, but at the end of the day I was happy that I was able to register a lift. I didn’t want to come home without that, it was important. But I think I can get stronger, I’m just looking forward now to how I can improve.”
Best of all, he knows fellow Ghanaians view him as a role model and inspiration – just as watching those Rio 2016 lifters motivated him to get into the sport.
“Being on TV [at Tokyo 2020] was amazing and lots of people know me in Ghana now, they will shout that they saw me on the news. They respect me for what I do, and that is great. We have some good new athletes coming through, from all over the country, around 15 in total,” Oku said.
“When I got back from Japan, a guy called Isaac came to the gym because he’d seen me at Tokyo. He really wanted to be a part of it. That made me happy. We’ve been training together today.
“With the African Para Games coming to Accra in 2023, it should be good for the city and the whole country. We look forward to welcoming people to Ghana. I have helped show what is possible.”
Oku will next compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which are held from 28 July to 8 August in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
A member of the Porcupine Warriors board has angrily insisted that the club’s head coach must be sacked as a matter of urgency
Asante Kotoko board member Kofi Amoa-Abban has angrily insisted that management should as a matter of urgency terminate the contract of head coach Prosper Ogum Narteh following the recent happenings at the club.
On Wednesday of last week, reports were rife that Ogum opted to part ways with the club just after ten months in charge.
Kotoko’s management member Emmanuel Newton Dasoberi also confirmed the news in an interview with Daily Graphic, insisting that the coach took the decision following a disagreement with the board on player recruitment.
“During the meeting with the board to discuss his report to the management, there was a disagreement over his request to sack 10 players and recruit 17 new players, including four centre-backs,” explained Emmanuel Newton Dasoberi, the Administration and Operations Manager of Kotoko.
“It was at the point when some members of the board questioned the justification of some of his requests that Coach Prosper Ogum said he had a two-year contract but wanted to move on with his life, so the club must look for a new coach.
“The coach has not formally written to the club about his resignation, but even when some members tried to persuade him to change his mind, his response was that his decision was final,” he added.
However, a letter from the board of directors vehemently denied anything of that sort and further advised the general public to disregard such information.
But, on the eve of a much awaited meeting between the board of directors and other stakeholders, Abban has jumped the gun and wants the coach sacked from the club.
“Asante Kotoko is under the Stewardship of a great Management Team led by Nana Yaw Amponsah. The success on and off the pitch last season is testament to this fact,” Abban tweeted.
“THE COACH SHOULD BE FIRED. No one is bigger than the Club. Asante Kotoko remains Supreme,” he added.
Ogum guided Kotoko to win Ghana Premier League title last season after just ten months at the club.