Sports
Black Stars win trophy
Ghana won the Supreme Council For Sports in Africa (SCSA) Zone Three championship trophy for the third time running when they beat Togo in a penalty shoot-out in the finals of the tournament at Ouagadougou (Burkina-Faso).The Black Stars won the shoot-out 4-3 after the two teams had drawn 1-1 after extra time. Togo opened the scoring in the second minute through Zacharie Soulenymane but John Bannerman equalized for Ghana in the 22nd minute.
The two-week tournament was contested by Ghana, host Burkina-Faso, Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo. The Black Stars had in the preliminaries beaten Ivory Coast 2-0 in the opening match with John Bannerman scoring all the two goals. The Stars drew 1-1 with Burkina Faso and again drew 2-2 with Togo before reaching the finals. Ghana first won the title in Benin in 1982. and successfully defended it in the Ivory Coast, 1983.
Championship match cancelled
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has announced that this year there will be no champion of champions match which normally features the winner of the league and knockout competitions respectively. Instead the GFA is organising a four cornered Patron's Cup competition in honour of the Head of State who is the Chief Patron of the GFA.The contest features the first four clubs on the league table, namely champions country, Hearts of Oak, Kotoko, RTU and Eleven Wise. In the first round of the competition Kotoko were expected to play host to Real Tamale United in Kumasi while Hearts of Oak were to meet Eleven Wise in Accra. The winners of the two matches meet on December 9.
Ghana triumphs over Togo
Ghana's champion club Accra Hearts of Oak recorded a 2-0 victory over Agaza Club of Lome, Togo, in a special off-season club international match at the Accra Sports Stadium.Parading a galaxy of new players, Hearts scored the two goals in the exciting first half.Accra Great Olympics defeated
Ghana's knock-out champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko beat Accra Great Olympics by a lone goal in their special friendly match at the Kumasi Sports Stadium..Kotoko's new recruit Saarah Mensah gave them victory with a seventh minute goal.
Cornerstone ends playing tour
A contingent of 18 players and five officials of Kumasi Cornerstone has returned to Ghana from a two-week soccer tour of the Republic of Togo. During the tour Corners honoured five matches, winning two and drawing the rest. In the opening match corners and Sportive De Gomida drew 0-0. They hit a sparkling form to beat Asko de Kara 3-1 in the next encounter.In the subsequent matches Corners drew 1-1 with Dumgbe club of Mango and Foadanm de Dapon. The Ghanaians crowned their tour with a 2-1 victory over Ifodje, Togo's representative in the WAFU.
Sub-committee on athletics
Lt-Col. Alex Djangmah, special co- ordinator, National Sports Council, has in- augurated 12 special sub-committees formed to see to the successful hosting of the African Junior Amateur Athletics competition for Zone III in Accra from December 26 to December 31, 1984.In a brief speech, Col. Djangmah charged members to ensure that the competition, which is an honour to the country, comes off successfully.
He assured members of his personal support and urged them to make the competition the envy of the participating countries. He assured both the members of the general public that the government has released funds for the smooth staging of the competition and that everybody should put in his optimum best to ensure its absolute success.
Nigerian Olympic boxers make debut
Three of the Nigerian Olympic squad make their professional debut on December 22 at the Ogbe Stadium in Benin City. The boxers Charles Nwokolo, Joe Orewa and Jeremiah Okorodudu, all members of the Bendel State team. The Nigeria Boxing Board of Control has sanctioned the fight.Under the billing, light welterweight shift Charles Nwokolo will face Dolly Duran of Ogun State who is the national number four contender to the crown held by GaniyuGiwa of Lagos State. Joe Orewa, bantamweight will take on Shina Sholeye also of Ogun and the third national title contender. Oyo State's Raimy Joe is the reigning champion in this category, while Jeremaih Okorodudu, the sensational light heavyweight who boxed in the light middleweight category at the Olympics will take on the national number four contender Joe Lee of Bendel State..
Good response from handball players
The coaches handling the Nigerian junior handball players, currently training in Yugoslavia for the forthcoming All-Africa Junior Handball Championships coming up this month in Bauchi, have expressed satis- faction with the players response to training.According to coach Adebayo Stephen the players 20 boys and 20 girls - were being taught a "new approach" to the game and that this had "sharpened them and perfec- ted their styles".
He said that the players had developed good co-ordination abilities, which, he said, were necessary for good performances. Coach Stephen explained that although the players were originally brought to Yugoslavia to play a series of practice matches with top Yugoslav teams, they had also received training sessions which had greatly improved their performances.
The Yugoslav coach, attached to the team Franji Snantil also said he was impressed with the performances of the junior players.
N900,000 for handball
The Bauchi Government is spending more than N900,000 for the provision of synthetic materials for use during the Third All-Africa Junior Handball Championships which begin in Bauchi on December 23. Arrangements were on to provide floodlights to the venue.The provision of lights became necessary because only one pitch would be used for the tournament during which matches would be played well into the night.
According to the NAN correspondent, the volleyball and lawn tennis courts in the State Stadium are being converted to practice pitches for players during the tournament.
The newly constructed grandstand at the sports complex would take about 500 spectators at a time and the Task Force Committee is planning to construct makeshift stands to accommodate more spectators in the complex. The Government is also renovating the Press Centre which will be provided with three direct telephone lines and telex service.
