The team won 1 silver and 18 bronze medals at the Benin Games
• The National Sports Authority has been presented with 19 medals won by the Ghana Badminton team at the 2021 Benin Internationals
• The team at the competition won 18 bronze medals and 1 silver medal
• The Presentation was held at the head office of the NSA on Tuesday
The Ghana Badminton Association on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, presented 1 silver and 18 bronze medals it accumulated at the 2021 Benin International Badminton Games to the Secretariat of the National Sports Authority in Accra.
Ghana’s participation in the 2021 edition of the competition saw the nation attain great feats including the 19 medals in total.
Aside the medal haul, all of Ghana’s participants in the tournament made it to the quarter-finals stage. A member of the Ghanaian contingent, Francis Obeng Shang, was adjudged Africa’s second-best player at the tournament.
Also, Racheal Quarcoo, a 12-year-old silver medalist female member of the team based on her performance won her and her team a five-year scholarship to participate in the Benin Internationals annual event.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony held at the Accra Sports Stadium, the President of the Ghana Badminton Association, Mr Evans Yeboah outlined the team’s success in Benin while calling on the Director-General of the Ghana Sports of Authority, Professor Peter Twumasi to continue with efforts in lifting the sports in the country.
“Today’s modern top-level sport is always a tremendous amount of hard work plus a little bit of luck. But clearly, without concrete and systematic effort, and without unflagging will to achieve results, we would not have succeeded in doing what we did, and we displayed precisely this kind of will in Benin a fortnight ago- winning 18 Bronze Medals and 1 Silver Medal in Seniors and Juniors categories for the two-week event. We also achieved Africa’s second-best player at the tournament in the person of Francis Obeng Shang- the last notable of this was 10 years ago in 2011 in Mauritius.
“I want to address a separate thanks to your coaches, management team and our indefatigable High-Performance Committee of the Association. They are always there not only to help the athletes develop their physical capabilities but also maintain them in good mental shape too – it is essential for the athletes after all to be able to keep a balanced state and withstand the intense psychological pressure they come under. Our Road to Africa Games in Ghana and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, of course, represent the peak of this kind of pressure, and so the coaches also made a very important contribution to your victories as a nation,” the President said.
He emphasized that with the right investment and support, the team holds great potential in delivering more laurels for the country in the 2022 Common Wealth Games in London and the 2023 All Africa Games to be held in Ghana.
On his part, the NSA Director-General, Prof. Peter Twumasi congratulated the team for lifting high the flag of Ghana high and as well assured of the government’s commitment and support towards sports development in the country.
“You have done so well, congratulations to you and your management, and also to the wonderful players. You’ve made us proud. We have always been indicating that whenever it is time for Ghana to participate in competitions, the government seriously considers such matters as importance because it is one of the means that we can showcase what we have, not only our culture but our competitiveness on the continent,” he said.
As part of his appreciation for the team’s victory, Prof. Twumasi made a donation of GH¢10,000 to the team and their management and urged them to go forth and achieve more medals.
Speech by Ghana Badminton President at Medal Presentation Ceremony of 19 Medal Winners to DG-NSA https://t.co/sIdK8vbIW7
— Ghana Badminton Association (@BadmintonGhana) September 15, 2021