Sports
New African Boxing Union (ABU) Champion
Ghana's Abdul Umaru Sanda, 27, won the vacant African Boxing Union (ABU) middleweight title with a sixth round knock-out victory over Hunter Clay of Nigeria at the open air Accra Stadium on September 8, 1984.Togolese sole referee/judge, Simon de Fanti, counted out the battered Clay on the second occasion that he visited the canvas in the sixth round. The Nigerian had started the fight well dropping Sanda with a short right in the first round for the mandatory count.
Sana hit back in the second but he woefully failed to make use of his longer reach as the Nigerian caught him often with his educated left.
The fourth round was a give-and-take affair, but Clay appeared to be tiring.
Clay was still scoring well with the left in the fifth round but when Sanda stepped up the tempo and shook Clay with a left-right combination, many ringsiders sensed a quick end of the proceedings.
And it came in the next round. A powerful right dropped Clay for six, but he ran into further trouble as Sanda, urged on by the partisan crowd, went all out for the KO.
Another left-right combination sent Clay down and by the count of ten his senses did not appear to be with him.
With his victory, Sanda stands a chance of fighting for the Commonwalth title held by Britain's Mac Taylor.
Sierra Leone beats Nigeria
Sierra Leone took third place in the Dakar International Military volleyball tourna- ment when they beat Nigeria 3-0 (15-5, 15-13, 15-10).Nigeria finished fourth, the fifth and sixth places already having gone to Mali and Mauritania.
Senegal and Ivory Coast were due to meet at the Marius Ndiaye Stadium to decide the title last Saturday.
Senegalese sweep titles at Nigerian tennis contest
Senegalese Berthe sisters, Marie and Saida repeated their raid of the yearly All-Nigerian Women's Open when Marie carted away the singles title.Marie dismissed Nosa Imafidon of Nigeria 6-0, 6-2 in less than an hour. The win also fetched the Senegalese a handsome cash prize of N1,750, plus the coveted Green Sands Trophy.
Earlier, the pair of Marie and Saida Berthe had clinched the doubles with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ann Abimiku/Aishatu Adamu. The victory was worth N1,600.
Ibadan Shooting Stars draw in Morocco
Nigeria's flagbearers, IICC Shooting Stars' of Ibadan, were forced to a 1-1 draw by Maghreb Fes of Morocco in the first leg of the African Champions Club Cup quarter-final, played in Casablanca.Veteran striker Segun Odegbami put his side ahead in the dying minutes before the Moroccans rallied powerfully to level up before the final whistle. The second leg comes on September 22, at the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan.
Fifa endorses seven referees
The International Football Federation (FIFA) has ratified the nomination of seven Nigeria referees for the 1984/85 season, the Nigerian Referees Association has announced.They are Festus Okubule, Funsho Okusanya, Linus Mba, Abdulhammid Salahudeen, Abdulkadir Gobir, Shehu Olanrewaju and Daniel Aghante.
The Nigerian Football Association nominated the referees in July after a screening exercise which involved a fitness test and medical check-up.
Ghana's boxers prepare for Soviet tour
The Ghana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA), will organize a special open individual championships in Accra on October 5.The exercise is to pick a team for a pro- posed tour of the USSR next month.
The GABA has therefore invited interested boxers for the exercise. Applicants should be in the following weight categories Light-flyweight, fly- weight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, light-welterweight and light- middleweight.
Gambia beats Ghana
The Ghana National Under-20 lost 0-1 to their Gambian counterparts in Banjul in the first leg preliminary round of the World Soccer Youth Tournament. The return match is scheduled for the Accra Stadium on Sunday, September 23.Kotoko and Obuasi Goldfields for finals
Asante Kotoko and second division side Obuasi Goldfields, will meet on Sunday, October 14 in Accra to decide who wins this year's F.A. Cup competition.In their semi-final matches in Accra and Kumasi, Asante Kotoko predictably second division side Tema-based Apeguso qualified for the final at the expense of Arnold Warriors while Goldfields pushed out highly fancied Brong Ahafo United in their encounter in Kumasi with a lone goal in the 84th minute.
Accra Great Olympics expelled
The Ghana Football Associatin (GFA), has expelled Accra Great Olympics from the Association and disqualified them from participating in all activities under the auspices of the GFA.A GFA statement issued in Accra explained that its action was in accordance with Article 16 of its constitution and Article 36(d) of its by-laws.
In the statement, signed by the Executive Secretary, Mr Kwaku Ampim-Darko, the GFA said on the afternoon of September 6, 1984, the Association was served with a writ initiated by Olympics.
The club contended that although the result of their protest against Brong-Ahafo United in the quarter-finals of the national knock-out had not been communicated to them, the GFA had, notwithstanding scheduled the semi-finals competition for September 9.
Olympics lost 1-2 to B.A. United in a quarter-final match played at Brong Ahafo but Olympics protested on the grounds that the referee was biased.
