Sports
Takyi’s bravado saves a nation’s Olympic blushes
To the cavilers, Ghana’s campaign at the Tokyo Olympic Games was disastrous. To others, it was a cameo suggesting there is great future ahead.
Amid a typhoon-like Covid pandemic that ruthlessly swept its anger across the world – killing thousands – and destroying livelihoods, Japan’s capital Tokyo, still proceeded to welcome some 11,500 passion-driven athletes to the Games.
So, after the hustles and bustles of intense chase, 14 athletes from Ghana were able to make the Olympic qualification nark – swaggering into a quadrennial event that has not given the nation a medal since 1992 in Barcelona, Spain, when the Black Meteors clinched what was Africa’s first medal (bronze) in football.
Again, for 49 years, no single individual sport has given the nation a medal.
Truth is that expectation of a medal from Tokyo was deemed almost a distant possibility. Even the biggest optimist doubted for once – reason being that preparation was woefully inadequate.
However, captain of Ghana’s amateur boxing team (Black Bombers), Sulemana Tetteh, on July 26 offered the nation the biggest hope as he won his first bout – silently knocking off any lingering doubt of a medal fiasco in Tokyo.
But two days later, Ghana’s representative in judoka Sensei Anani Kwadjo was swatted aside in the 90kg event. It was a learning curve for the 21-year-old who bowed to a more experienced South Korean.
On the same night, the unheralded Samuel Takyi wrapped up a unanimous 5-0 win against Ecuador’s Caicedo Pachito in his opening featherweight contest.
Sadly, the joy that greeted Takyi’s victory was to evaporate with humiliating rapidity few hours later when light heavyweight Shakur Samed was technically stopped by his Turkish opponent Bayram Malkan. It was a humbling experience too for the loser whose siblings were also ‘medal-less’ at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Come July 29, Ghana’s finest swimmer Abeiku Jackson, finished first in the 100m men’s butterfly. Many Ghanaians cart-wheeled into celebration only to be told that his time of 53:39, was not enough to see him into the semi-final stage. All the same, it was a great performance, and a corking one for the future. A day later, though, Abeiku’s swimming compatriot Unilez Takyi – placed last in the women’s 50m freestyle event. No comment on that one.
Perhaps, the most bewildering performance came from Nadia Eke in the triple jump – recording no jumps in all three attempts. It was limpidly clear she was not ready for the event; maybe, just happy to have tasted Olympics.
Little wonder, Eke was quick to announce her retirement soon after her failure.
On Saturday, July 31, Benjamin Azamati surprised many Ghanaians after placing fourth during heat 7 of the 100m race, recording 10.13 secs. Winner of that heat was Australia’s Rohan Browning. He was tipped to do far better.
Azamati made history by breaking a 22-year national record held by Leo Myles Mills on March 26, 2021 in Texas, USA, by clocking 9.97 seconds to qualify for the Tokyo and many he could reenact that performance. He blames his Tokyo performance to stage fright. Well, he is a huge potential.
On same day, Christian Amoah slumped badly in weightlifting, attributing his bad output to an injury he sustained earlier. It looks like he had seen his last Olympics, having tasted the previous one in Rio, Brazil.
After bouts of bitter-sweet recordings, the biggest joy popped up like champagne in the early hours of August 1 when Takyi decisioned his opponent 3-2 and hopped into the medal zone – basically giving Ghana its first boxing medal (bronze) since Prince Amartey in Munich ’72. A 49-year-old demon was effectively exorcised by the 21-year-old lad who has proven to be a huge revelation in Tokyo.
On July 3, Takyi attempted to box his way beyond his bronze feat but crashed 1-4 to the more experienced United States’ Duke Ragan.
The defeat, notwithstanding, the former ‘truck pusher’ has written his name in the hearts of Ghanaians. He was the biggest thing that happened to Ghana in Tokyo – and must be hugely celebrated when the contingent returns home.
Any hope for the sprints? Well, Sprinter Joseph Paul Amoah finished third in heat 7 to cruise into the semis but subsequently failed to make the final cut later.
But when it all appeared that athletics was not going to make any big impression, Ghana’s 4x100m men’s quartet qualified for the Olympic finals with a new national record of 38.08 secs. As of press time, the team was preparing to dash for the medal race. Who knows it might be another medal for Ghana? And, that would have been awesome!
Having said that, the total performance of our contingent indicated that we could have done better if we had prepared well. It was no Covid issue. We failed to invest in our preparations and the upshot was exactly what we reaped.
We must be extremely lucky to be returning with something, courtesy Takyi! He saved the nation’s Olympic blushes!
PlainTalk with JOHN VIGAH
Ghana Premier League side, Nations FC, may have suffered the drop in the just ended Premier League and are destined for a fresh campaign in the Division One League (DOL).
But they stand a huge chance of remaining in the elite stage of the game as they face Dreams FC in an epic MTN FA Cup final at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium tomorrow at 6pm.
Dreams FC have been there before; going ahead to taste the honours in the 2022-23 season after defeating King Faisal.
Coming from a season that saw them crawl from the initial stages of the league to finish on a respectable fourth position, they come in as strong favourites to double their honours in the nation’s second top football competition.
History favours them in this regard. On their first final, they conquered and based on this, connoisseurs of the game have tipped them to make it ‘two-on-two.’
But Nations FC have been empowered by the age-old adage that “He that is down need fear no fall.”
Nothing can be worse than suffering relegation and exiting the limelight as far as exposure is concerned.
But the FA offers a decent opportunity to make them stay relevant.
Conquering Dreams FC would not just make them MTN FA Cup champions. It will grant them the prestigious slot to represent Ghana in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) second tier club competition- the Confederations Cup.
With Dreams FC harbouring the same ambitions, the stage is, therefore, set for a final that promises to be explosive and uncompromising.
The situation of Nations FC might have come to many as a surprise, considering their promising start to the season, with their defence especially, marshalled by Black Stars defender, Razak Simpson, and colleague central defender, Raymond Grippman, earning a lot of reviews.
But despite the struggles they endured at certain times of their campaign, the MTN FA Cup always provided slices of good fortunes as they managed to navigate their way to the final.
Road to the top
Nations FC began the MTN FA Cup competition on a promising note, enjoying some good runs with a win over DOL Zone Two side, Ebony FC, in the Round of 64.
That landed them in a tricky encounter with another high-flying Zone Two candidate, AshantiGold SC, a side that eventually won the title from the zone to qualify to the Premier League, but escaped.
At the round of 16 stage, they encountered and defeated Ghana Premier League side, Swedru All Blacks, 2-1 to gain progression to the quarter final stage where they edged Berekum Chelsea on penalties.
A dicey semi-final awaited them against Aduana FC in Swedru. It was a game Nations was given little chance to escape considering Aduana FC’s form but once again, they conquered to secure a final berth.
In total, the Abrankese-based club have scored eight goals and conceded only two throughout the competition, making them one of the strongest defensive sides in the tournament.
For Dreams FC, they defeated Division One League Zone Three side, Semper Fi, 2-1 to progress to the next stage of the competition where they accounted for Division Two side, Asanska FC, 2-0.
That handed them a quarterfinal berth where they faced Inter Allies and drew one all before winning 4-3 on penalties.
The happiest moment in their success story was a 3-2 semi-final win over GPL winners, Medeama SC.
With that feat, Dreams have been touted as potential winners as the match comes at a time the Nations FC side may be psychologically down over the weight of the challenge they face in the next season.
However, the competition has gain notoriety for not following any form guide and outcomes mostly coming as major surprises.
In this regard, Dreams may be tipped as favourite candidates but though Nations are wounded, the stakes could revive an insatiable desire to apply the brakes to turn the dreams of Dreams FC into a nightmare.
Support
The support from MTN Ghana has no doubt improved competition among the clubs with the attractive incentive packages for participating clubs.
MTN Ghana, which is celebrating 30 years of operations in Ghana, formally became headline sponsors of the Ghana FA Cup in the 2010/2011 football season after the competition had returned from an eight-year hiatus.
The first edition under MTN sponsorship was won by Nania FC, who defeated Asante Kotoko 1–0 in the final at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Since then, the competition has been known as the MTN FA Cup, with MTN renewing its sponsorship several times — in 2013, 2017, 2020 and again for subsequent seasons.
By Andrew Nortey
The Black Stars have opened camp in Cardiff ahead of next week’s international friendly against Wales.
The team is being taken through training drills by head coach Carlos Queiroz.
Thirteen players trained at Dragon Park on Monday, with others expected to join the squad on Tuesday.
They include Ernest Nuamah, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Jordan Ayew, Caleb Yirenkyi, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Elisha Owusu, Gideon Mensah, Marvin Senaya, Jerome Opoku, Benjamin Asare, Joseph Anang, Solomon Agbasi, and Alidu Seidu.
The Black Stars will train in Cardiff for one week ahead of the international friendly against Wales on Tuesday, June 2, before traveling to the United States of America.
Coach Carlos Queiroz will use the period to assess his players before naming his final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Twenty-six players will be submitted to FIFA on Monday, June 1, as mandated by the competition regulations.
The Black Stars are drawn in Group L with Panama, England, and Croatia. They will open their World Cup campaign against Panama on June 17 in Toronto before facing England and Croatia in their other group matches.
