Paris 2024: 6 Ghanaian boxers touch down in Bangkok ahead of final Olympic Qualifier
A team of five men and one woman from Ghana’s Black Bombers and Black Hitters has arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, for this month’s Paris 2024 Boxing Olympic Qualifier.
The competition, scheduled from May 24 to June 2, 2024, offers the last opportunity for Ghana’s boxers to secure spots for the summer games.
Vice-President of the Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF), Dauda Fuseni, who led the team, expressed confidence in Ghana’s chances of securing some slots for the Paris Olympic Games.
“We have struggled a lot for this trip, and I am very optimistic the boys will make it because they know what is at stake”.
Last week, Black Bombers coach Ofori Asare drafted in African Games gold medalist Joseph Commey to contest in the men’s 63.5 kg category as a replacement for Samuel Takyi.
Commey, who also won gold at this year’s African Games, joins Theophilus Kpakpo Allotey (flyweight), Amadu Mohammed (featherweight), Henry Malm (light-middleweight), and Leicester-based Mark Kodjovi Ahondjo (super heavyweight), who could not compete at the last Olympic Qualifier in Busto Arsizio.
US-based middleweight boxer (75 kg), Ornella Sathoud, is the only female in the team.
The team is led by Dauda Fuseini, the 1st Vice President of the Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF).
The technical team comprises Vincent Akai Nettey (1st Assistant Coach), Elvis Robertson (2nd Assistant Coach), Edward Asante (Team Doctor), and Daniel Quartey (Physiotherapist/Masseur).
No Ghanaian boxer has yet qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after participating in two qualifying tournaments in Senegal in 2023 and Busto Arsizio, Italy, in February 2024.
Overall, there will be 51 quotas at stake, including 23 for women and 28 for men in the second World Qualification Tournament in 2024.
So far, 188 quotas have been taken.
The tournament, which is the final chance for boxers to secure a quota for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will run from May 24 to June 2, 2024.
Hearts of Oak to face Kotoko in inaugural Democracy Cup as part of Parliament’s 30th anniversary
Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko have been selected to compete in the inaugural Democracy Cup, an event created to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the country’s Parliament.
The match is scheduled to take place on Friday, July 5, 2024, at the Accra Sports Stadium, to celebrate this significant milestone.
In addition to the main event, Members of Parliament are expected to participate in an exciting curtain-raiser match against former Black Stars players.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, announced that the winner of the Super Clash will earn the opportunity to face DC United in Washington.
“Due to the good works of this parliament, a few partners and stakeholders decided to support our work, and proposed to us the establishment of what they refer to us as the Democracy Cup, which would spice up the celebration of our 30th anniversary of the 1992 constitution and this parliament of the Fourth Republic,” said Bagbin.
The launch of the inaugural edition of the Democracy Cup is set for Thursday, June 6, with plans for the initiative to continue in subsequent years.
The Democracy Cup will mark the third meeting of the season between Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko.
The second meeting will occur this weekend in the Ghana Premier League, as the teams have already faced each other twice in the 2023/24 campaign.
