The Accra 2023 African Games in Ghana came to a successful close last Saturday. Egypt were the biggest winners with 191 medals, 102 of them gold, but Ghana’s performance in the team sports was also very impressive.

The 13th African Games in the land of Ghana ended with a resounding victory for Egypt, who won 102 gold medals (191 total), twice as many as their nearest rivals, Nigeria, who settled for second place with 47 gold medals (121 total). South Africa secured third place with 106 medals, 32 of which were gold.

The African Games Accra 2023 also saw remarkable team performances from the host nation.

Ghana’s U-20 men’s na­tional football team and their women, the Black Princesses won gold in the football event in Cape Coast and Accra.

In a nail-biting showdown at the Theodosia Okoh Stadi­um, Ghana’s national women’s hockey team, the Black Sticks, secured their first field hockey gold medal at the African Games. The dramatic victory came when they defeated fierce rivals Nigeria 4-3 in a sudden-death penalty shoot-out.

Ghana’s best performance prior to today’s gold medal was a fourth place finished at the Abuja Games in 2003. Kenya, who finished last in the group stage, improved in the closing stages to take bronze.

In the men’s competition, Egypt overcame Ghana after a 2-2 draw in which the hosts staged a historic comeback from 2-0 down. The penalty shootout ended 3-1 in favour of the Egyptians, leaving a sour taste in the hosts’ mouths as they failed to complete a ‘double in hockey.’

Algeria overcame a 6-9 halftime deficit to win gold in the men’s 3×3 basketball competition with a 16-11 final victory. Uganda finished third with a 17-11 victory.

In the women’s competi­tion, Mali defeated Nigeria 21-11 in a West African derby, while the Democratic Republic of Congo beat Benin to finish third.

In handball, Egypt claimed one of its 102 gold medals with a narrow 33-32 victory over the Republic of Congo, while Nigeria completed the podium with a 38-20 win over Benin.

In the women’s compe­tition, Angola won the gold medal unbeaten and convinc­ingly, beating Burkina Faso 47-13, Ghana 35-13, Algeria 38-18 in the group stage and the Republic of Congo 33-15. Meanwhile, Cameroon beat Al­geria 29-21 in the play-off for third place to claim bronze.

Zimbabwe was the inaugu­ral champions of the wom­en’s T20 cricket tournament, winning the gold medal after a thrilling super-over win over South Africa in the final.

In the men’s competition, Zimbabwe also claimed glory in the final.

The Accra 2023 tournament will go down in history as the debut of rugby as a compet­itive sport. South Africa, the reigning world champions, did not take part in the event, leaving the field open for others.

–Insidethegames.biz