Ghanaian coach James Kwesi Appiah celebrated his first win as the head coach of Sudan when they narrowly defeated Chad in an international friendly on Tuesday.

Sudan had been struggling in recent matches, with a four-game winless streak, but they managed to secure a 1-0 victory over Chad at the King Fahd Stadium in Saudi Arabia.

The Desert Hawks secured the match-winning goal in the 30th minute, marking a significant victory for Appiah's team after his first match had ended 1-1 against Tanzania.

The former Black Stars coach was appointed as Sudan's head coach earlier this month and has committed to a three-year contract with the primary goal of revitalizing football in the Northeast African nation.

He is supported by fellow Ghanaians Ignatius Osei Fosu, the former coach of Techiman Eleven Wonders and Dreams FC, and ex-Black Stars goalkeeper Fatau Dauda, who is serving as the goalkeeper's trainer.

Sudan are setting their sights on qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, with important qualifiers against Togo and DR Congo scheduled for next month.

Unfortunately, they missed out on qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which is set to start in January 2024 in Ivory Coast.

ghanasoccernet.com

Ghana coach Chris Hughton has taken full responsibility for the team’s heavy defeat against the United States of America in an international friendly on Wednesday mid-night.

The Black Stars were unable to recover from Mexico defeat after succumbing to a 4-0 defeat at the Geodis Stadium – Nashville to The Yanks.

The former Premier League manager made a few changes to the team that started against Mexico, with goalkeeper Abdul Manaf Nurudeen starting ahead of Lawrence Ati Zigi while Jerome Opoku was handed his debut but it didn’t pay off for the team.

“I’m very cautious of what the game mean in Ghana and for any performance we put in that we did today with the scoreline, we are very sorry for the nation that stayed up late in the night. I take responsibility, I work with a group of players and I determine the tactics so I apologize for the results and the performance in the first half period. Again it is my responsibility to make sure we have two games in November is that we start to see a performance”

USA broke the deadlock after just 10 minutes into the game through Dortmund midfielder Giovanni Reyna before captain Christian Pulisic doubled the advantage for the host from the spot nine minutes later.

The Yanks continued their demolishing exercise as Monaco attacker Folarin Balogun hit the back of the net to extend USA’s lead in the 22nd minute.

Just before half-time, Reyna added the United States' fourth from an indirect freekick in the box to seal victory for the host.

The Black Stars begin their 2026 World Cup qualifiers next month with the opening game against Madagascar.

footballghana

Ace Kickboxer, Steavano Tuekpe has declared his intentions and interest to go for elections to become the President of the Ghana Kickboxing Association.

In an exclusive interview, he said the exciting sport is dying in the country and there is the need to resurrect it and make it vibrant once again.

Steavano Tuekpe who is President of WKU Ghana said he is going to change the face of Ghana Kickboxing with the organization of tournaments to reward athletes and offer them opportunities to compete with other Kickboxers in other countries.

He promised to supply equipment to the National team and active gyms and clubs.

He also promised to take the sport to tertiary institutions and security agencies to know self defense and other techniques in fighting.

According to him, efforts are being made all over the world to make Kickboxing safe and attractive, so there would be regular seminars for practitioners and officials to be abreast with modern and latest rules and regulations.

"I have the connections and links that we have been lacking as an Association because I have met some of the big people in the sport on the international scene and they are prepared to support Ghana" he noted.

In August this year he staged the African Open Tournament at Tema in the Greater Accra Region where five Combat Sports, namely Taekwondo, Judo, Karate Do, MMA and Kickboxing athletes were given the opportunity to showcase their skills and talents and were awarded fantastic prizes.

He also promised to unite all stakeholders in the sport and make Ghana Kickboxing Association attractive to sponsors.

He urged all delegates to vote in a clean, fair and transparent election for the good of the sport in Ghana and Africa.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

One On One Foundation and CHASS organizes Health Walk / Mini Olympics

The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools CHASS in collaboration with One On One Foundation on Friday 13th October 2023. organized a Health Walk And Health Screening plus CHASS Mini Olympics.

The side attraction of the programme include Tug of war, 5 aside soccer, Volleyball, Pillow fight, Relay races Chess Oware, Draft, Ludo and Ampe.

The participants started with a walk from Ayi Mensah to Peduase Lodge and took a bus to the Papaye Recreational Village, where they continued with aerobics and the rest of the activities to release stress.

Mr. Olla Williams, CEO of One On One Foundation said the programme was successful and hope to do t again.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

AC Milan midfielder, Yunus Musah has opened up ahead of the USA international friendly game against Ghana, the country of his parents.

Musah was born to Ghanaian parents in New York but opted to represent the USA at international level.

He is expected to feature for the USA against his native country on Tuesday night at the Geodis Stadium.

And the 20-year-old says it will be special playing against the Black Stars of Ghana.

"It's really special because a lot of people from the Ghanaian community will be watching the game knowing I was eligible to play for Ghana and I have roots from there so it's a special game," he said in a pre-match interview.

"I have a lot of family as well from Ghana and they are all going to be watching," he added.

The United States head into the game against defeat to Germany on Friday night, and according to Musah, the Ghana game will be a totally different match.

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Ghana coach, Chris Hughton says he hopes his side avoids mistakes against the United States of America (USA).

The Black Stars will wrap up their October international friendly games on Wednesday when they come up against the USA at the Geodis Park, Nashville, Tennessee.

Having conceded two goal in the second half against Mexico at the Bank of America Stadium in the first friendly game, Hughton speaking ahead of the game says he hope his side will not repeat the mistakes they made against the CONCACAF champions.

"We were relatively happy with the first-half performance. But I think when you playing against a very good Mexican team in their own stadium as such. Because that is what it felt and on a surface that they know well when they raise their game, which they did in the second half, they raised the intensity of their game, we had to match that and ball possession needed in that second half period," he told the Ghana FA website.

"It also goes to say that you can have a lot of games you know that the opposition will have a bigger percentage of chances but what you can’t afford to do is what we regard as bad defensive goals and the two goals we gave away we thought were avoidable and if we are able to avoid them to opportunities then maybe we come out of the game as not being the better team but what we regard as probably a good result," he added.

The game has been scheduled to kick off at 12:30 a.m.

Ghana next month begin their 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Madagascar (Nov. 13) and Comoros (Nov. 21) before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast next year.

footballghana

Mr. Albert K. Frimpong, a member of the current Executive Board of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and former President of the Ghana Baseball and Softball Association says it is great news that Baseball is going to the Olympic Games in 2028 in Los Angeles, USA.

"It is the the best news for the development of the sports. As President of Africa Baseball I see it as major boost for the development of the sports in Africa.

We pray and hope that whoever gets to represent us in Los Angeles will put up a great show and keep our image up there. But it is wish and hope that the people of America and MLB in particular will now look seriously at Africa and support us".

Albert Frimpong is President of WBSC AFRICA (World Baseball Softball confederation- Africa).

He is also President and Founder of International Federation of Skate Soccer IFSS and founding executive of the Ghana Beach Soccer Association.

By Sammy Heywood Okine

The Scholastic Chess Tournament comes up at the Accra International Conference Center on Saturday October 21, 2023 from 9am to 3pm.
According to Ms Christine Ashley, General Secretary of the Ghana Chess Federation, the tournament is being organized in age categories such as U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18 and U20, and there are fantastic prizes from Samsung at stake for the winners.
The Scholastic Chess Tournament is the brainchild of Mind Sport Ghana and all interested participants must register at 170ghc.
For registration one can contact 024314966 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
There would be side attraction with games like Scrabble, Monopoly, Draught Rapid and others.
By Sammy Heywood Okine

Victory in the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens regional qualifying tournament sees the Springbok Women’s Sevens book their ticket to Paris

MONASTIR, Tunisia, October 16, 2023/ -- South Africa’s women’s sevens team can look forward to their first-ever Olympics Games after winning the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens regional qualifying tournament in Tunisia.

Kenya pushed them all the way in the final in Monastir as they looked to book their place at a third Olympics having previously represented the region in Rio and Tokyo.

But the Lionesses came up just short, losing 12-7, and will now have to try their luck in the repechage – along with third place Uganda – in a bid to maintain their ever-present record.

Nadine Roos starred for South Africa throughout the two-day event, scoring nine tries and kicking 10 conversions including her side’s first try in the final.

South Africa breezed through day one with comfortable wins against Zimbabwe (26-0), Uganda (19-0) and Tunisia (27-7) with Roos contributing 37 of their points.

A Roos hat-trick on day two then helped the Springbok Women’s Sevens to beat Zambia 31-0 in the semi-final and set up a date with Kenya.

The Lionesses had kicked off their campaign with two big wins against Zambia and Ghana, scoring 68 points without reply, but nearly came unstuck against Madagascar in their final pool match, edging a tight contest 20-17.

Dennis Mwanja’s charges had a far easier ride in the semi-final, beating Uganda 27-0, and went into the final with real confidence.

However, Kenya found themselves 5-0 behind at half-time with Roos' unconverted try the only thing separating the teams.

Sharon Auma then gave Kenya hope when she levelled the scores, Grace Okulu converting to send them into a 7-5 lead.

But Maria Thshiremba had the final say for South Africa when she scored from a set piece move, Roos adding the conversion to make it 12-7.

"A GREAT FEELING"

South Africa head coach Renfred Dazel said he was delighted for the players that they were able to create history and finally qualify for the Olympics.

“I feel so happy for the players who worked so hard to achieve this – we were denied in 2016 and 2020, but this time it is official, and it’s such a great feeling,” said Dazel.

"We knew Kenya was going to be a tough opponent and I told the players that defence will win us this one. We did really well in the first half, but could not convert all our pressure into points, so when they took the lead in the second half, we had to fight hard.

“But once again, like in the Challenger Series final, we had the fight in us for the win and it was a great comeback.”

The Springbok Women's Sevens team earlier in the year secured core status on the revamped HSBC SVNS after winning the Challenger Series in Stellenbosch, and Dazel said qualifying for the Olympic Games will further boost their profile.

“It is huge for our system and it is huge for women's rugby in the country overall,” he said.

“There will be more opportunities now for girls to come and play rugby, so winning this weekend was immense for the women's game. The future looks bright.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Rugby.

SOURCE World Rugby

Floria Hurtubise placed first in the Ladies Group A at the 2023 MTN Invitational Tournament held at the Achimota Golf Club last Friday, October 13, 2023. She amassed 37 points over handicap of 14, while Vastie Amoafo-Yeboah was second with 34 points over handicap of 15.

Kojo Choi won the Men’s Group A with 38 points on 10 handicaps, while Christopher Mbii was second with 37 points over plus one handicap and Kwame Boafo placed third with 37 points on nine handicaps.

Philip Bonney won the Men’s Group B over 24 handicaps and 40 points as Peter Quartey-Papafio was second with 38 points on 24 handicaps and Justin Butah at third place with 37 points over 15 handicaps.

Charity Vogel won the Women’s Seniors on 32 points while Jan Vogel took the Men category with 33 points.

For the Auxiliary Prizes, Longest Drive (Hole 17) went to Joshua Mensah – Larkai and Closest To The Pin (Hole 18) Men was taken by Nash Antwi as Jessica Tei won the Ladies.

All the winners were presented with fantastic prizes and goodies from MTN and Techno, who sponsored the Destination Golf Tournament.

Ms. Adwoa Wiafe, Chief Corporate Services & Sustainability Officer (CCSSO), MTN Ghana said the purpose of the MTN Invitational Golf Tournament, is in furtherance of our shared beliefs with the ancient Romans and Greeks on the relationship between sports and mental agility.

“Our history of supporting worthy causes in the sports industry in this country is a matter of public record and a testament to our commitment to promote sports development for the well-being of our fellow citizens”.

“It is in pursuit of this commitment that we are proud to be associated with the development of golf in this country through the Achimota Golf Club. This sport, introduced in the country during the colonial era in the early part of the 20th century, has steadily gained recognition and participation beyond Accra to other parts of the country. With the quite extensive walking that is associated with a single game, golf is particularly good for our hearts, and I hope many more of us will take this rather enjoyable sport up” she expressed.

She expressed her delighted that over 100 golfers registered for this year’s tournament, out of which MTN rewarded 12 in various categories in the tournament’s  2nd edition.

“Nonetheless, we wish to assure you all that MTN is unwavering in its pursuit of a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship with golf as a sport” she added.

By Sammy Heywood Okine