Sports
African Cup contest's 21 anniversary
The African Cup of Champion Clubs competition comes of age this year with the 21st edition of the continent's most prestigious football competition.Only four clubs entered for the initial Champions Cup in 1964, with Cameroun's Orxy Douala won by beating Stade Malien of Mali 2-1 in Accra.
No competition was staged the following year but since then the cup has grown in status and size with a record 39 clubs entering last year.
Egypt's Zamalet beat Ibadan (IICC) Shooting Stars of Nigeria 3-0 on aggregate in the final last year and it is favoured to retain the trophy this year.
The strongest challengers to the Cairo club could be Nigeria's Rangers International of Enugu, the Mascara of Algeria, Hearts of Oak of Ghana and Cameroun's Tonnerre De Yaounde.
Ground Force Mechele, which faces Burundi's Vital (winners to play Kenya's Scarlet FC), is the first Ethiopian club to compete in African competition since 1978. Teams from the East African states were feared throughout the continent during the 1950's but have made little impression since then.
Zimbabwean Army Club, Black Rhinos, await the victors of the southern-Africa clash between Mbabane Highlanders, from Swaziland, and Lesotho Para-Military Force (LPF).
Oyo State teams capture titles
African king, Atanda Musa took only ten minutes to dispose of his opponent Sunday Adeyinka in the second round of the Men's Singles 20th yearly All-Nigerian Coca Cola closed) Table Tennis Championships. Musa who seemed in a hurry to attend to other engagements beat unknown Adeyinka In two straight sets 21-1, 21-2 to move to the third round. The Number One Seed and defending champion, Francis Sule also had everything going easy for him in the men's singles.After a walk-over in the first round against a "dark-horse" from Sokoto, he easily outstroked I. D. Adegbenro in two straight sets, 21-8, 21-11.
Fatai Adeyemo from Oyo State defeated Owolabi Ljelu (Lagos) in two sets, 21-10, 21-19, while Fatai Adisa (Lagos) lost to Fatai Ayinda (Oyo) in two sets, 21-14, 21-18.
Oyo State's Men and Women team captured the team event titles of the competition.
The Oyo men's beat the defending Lagos State 5-4 while the women's side regained the crown against Lagos women 3-0.
Nigerian stars represent Africa
Two Nigerian lawn tennis players, David Imonitie and Sadiq Abdullahi, have been chosen to represent Africa against an Arab selected team in Casablanca, Morocco, from April 14 to April 17.In a statement the National Sports Commission (NSC) said that their selection was based on their performance during the All-Africa Championship in Libya last October. Imonitie won the men's singles even by beating Abdullahi. They are expected to leave for Morocco on April 12, the statement said. A source close to the Nigeria lawn tennis association said that the Africa-Arab duel is an entirely men's affair.
Sadiq Abdullahi at the Indian Satellite Circuit Masters' Tournament in Pune, near Bombay, beat the Indian hopeful, S. Vasudevan, 6-7, 6-0, 8-6 in the men's singles contest. Reports say that Vasudevan went down fighting against "the fitter and swift Abdullahi in an absorbing 90-minute tussle."
The 22-year-old Abdullahi, who was making his first appearance in the tournament, rallied spendidly after losing in the first set, breaking Vasudevan thrice to claim the second set without conceding a single game.
The tenacious Nigerian star, trailing 2-5 in the decider, levelled the score by breaking Vasedevan in the eighth game. Vasudevan, however, made it 6-5, but Abdullahi levelled up again and went on to beat his opponent in the 13th game to lead 7-6, after which he romped home with a sizzling smash to win 8-6.
NNB loses match
Current West African Football Union Sekondi. WAFU champion, New Nigeria Bank of Benin City have conceded their first defeat this year.At the Kano township stadium they lost 0-1 to hosts Racca of Kano in a friendly match organised by the Kano football association to keep the home team in shape for the new soccer season.
Abbrey for West Germany
Kofi Abbrey, Ghana's international left winger has left the country for West Germany on a coaching course in soccer. He would first be attached to a first division club in London for sometime before leaving for West Germany.Disclosing this to newsmen in Accra Nana Ackah Nyanzu II, chairman of the Eleven Wise football club whe sponsored the footballer said it was in fulfilment of an earlier promise he had made to Abbrey and expressed the hope that other potentials in the club would be given similar opportunities.
Ghana donates trophy
The Chairman of the PNDC, Flt-Lt J. J. Rawlings, has donated a trophy to replace the "Kerekou Cup" which Ghana won for keeps last November. The new cup will be known as the "Baba Yara Trophy", named after the late King of right wingers.A statement issued by the Ministry of Youth and Sports said Ghana would host the first competition for the cup which is for the Supreme Council for Sports (SCSA) Zone Three soccer this year. It said the SCSA Secretariat in Ouagadougou Burkina-Faso has accepted the trophy and has sent a message of congratulations to the PNDC chairman on his decision to donate the cup.
Ghana first won the Kerekou Cup donated by the President of Benin in Cotonou in 1982, retained it the following year in Abidjan and then won it for good last November in Ouagadougou.
The late Baba Yara was one of the greatest footballers Ghana has produced. He first came into the limelight in the late 50's with Kumasi Asante Kotoko Football club. He was an original member of the Real Republicans, a model club of superstars, formed in 1961. Yara was fatally injured in a car accident involving the club a Kpeve, Volta Region in 1963 from which he died after a prolonged invalidation.
Club donates drugs
A German-Ghanaian friendship club based in Kiel, Federal Republic of Germany has presented a quantity of drugs worth C158,000 to the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in SekondiThe assorted drugs which include antibiotics, pain-killers, anti-malaria, diarrhoea and rheumatism injections are the clubs' contribution to the welfare of the people of Sekondi-Takoradi.
Making the presentation at a ceremony at the West German Embassy in Accra, Mrs Janet Jankah, an executive member of the club, said Kiel, which has been twinned with Sekondi-Takoradi, and its people were willing to help Sekondi-Takoradi and Ghana, in general.
The West German Ambassador in Ghana Mr Vogel who was present at the ceremony, hoped the donation would strengthen bonds of cooperation existing between the two countries
