Badminton Benin International: Ghana’s mixed double team qualifies to Semi-final stage

Ghana began her contest for gold on a bright start after brushing aside competition from the three Béninois players.

Ghana’s Kelvin Alphous and Prospera Nantuo defeated Gbenoukpon Sebastino Degbe and Gracias Akapko 21-13, 21-5 whilst Aaron Tamakloe and Gloria Nyame eliminated Béninois duo Senakpon Carlos and Xena Arisa 21-17, 21-18 with Tornyenyor Cindy Etornam, and Abdul-Samad Ahmad putting up a good show to cruise to the last eight of the Mixed double.

In the Men’s Single event, five of Ghana’s players, Emmanuel Amoako, Aaron Tamakloe, Samuel Lamptey, Kelvin Alphous and Ahmad sailed through to the main draw. With some splendid display from the young sensational Emmanuel Amoako, and Samuel Lamptey.

In the Women’s Single contest, Prospera Nantuo beat Cameroonian Flora Kpogbemabou 15-21, 21-11, 21-16, whilst Racheal Quarcoo, the youngest in the Benin International Championship recorded a massive win of 21-13, 15-21, 22-20 over Ruth Esperance to the delight of all spectators in the arena. The win takes her to the last 16 stage, with Gloria Nyame having a bye win over Grace Akapko.

With 14 Countries participating including, Benin the host, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Niger, and Cameroon, the 2021 Benin International is a qualification platform for the Ghanaian team to accumulate more points and higher rankings for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

By: Edna A. Quansah, GNA’s Special Correspondent