A review of the marquee sporting occasions in Ghana in 2022

There were some significant athletic events that defined 2022. Highlights included Ghana’s appalling showing at the African Cup of Nations, qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, the ban on Black maidens, Ghana’s athletics team at the Commonwealth Games, among other sports.

We review some of the significant sporting moments from the last year.

AFCON WOES

The Black stars of Ghana were shockingly crashed out of the 2022 African cup of nations held in Cameroon.

The Four-time African champions were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after a shocking 3-2 defeat to Comoros on the final day of their group C fixture.

Ghana lost their opener to Morocco and drew 1-1 with Gabon before the shocking 3-2 defeat to Comoros, making it the first time in history that Ghana have failed to win at least one group match.

WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION

The Black stars of Ghana qualified for their fourth World Cup after defeating rivals Nigeria on away goals in Abuja.

After a goalless first leg in Kumasi, Ghana qualified after a 1-1 draw in Nigeria.

Thomas Partey scored what turned out to be the crucial goal after 10 minutes with Nigeria levelling the scores through captain William Troost-Ekong from the penalty spot.

The Super Eagles however needed an extra goal to see them through but failed in the presence of their home fans which led to many ugly scenes after full time.

GHANA EXITS WORLD CUP AT GROUP STAGE

Ghana’s 2022 FIFA World Cup journey was cut short right from the group stages.

Led by coach Otto Addo and a mixture of young talented and experienced players, they failed to make a mark in Qatar.

The Black stars lost their first game to Portugal won against South Korea and lost at the most important tie to Uruguay.

In what was termed as a revenge mission for the Black Stars, they  failed to take their chances losing for the second time, having lost to the South American side on penalties in 2010.

BLACK MAIDENS BAN

In what seemed to be a good year for most of the Ghanaian national teams, the Black Maidens had one of the terrible news ever.

The national U17 female sides were slapped with a two-year ban for fielding an unqualified player in their FIFA U17 World Cup Qualifiers against Morocco.

The Black Maidens of Ghana will be absent in the next two editions of the FIFA U17 Women’s African Qualifiers with the Ghana Football Association also being fined $100,000 by the Confederation of African Football.

BLACK GALAXIES MAKES CHAN RETURN AFTER SIX YEARS

The Black Galaxies will return to the 2022 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship after a six-year absence with hopes of clinching a medal in the tournament in Algeria.

Ghana eliminated arch-rivals Nigeria in the final qualification rounds.

The first leg ended 2-0 in Ghana’s favor in Cape Coast, and a similar score line was registered in favor of Nigeria in Abuja with the former champions qualifying on penalties.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Ghana’s total medals won at the commonwealth games since it inception in 1954 rose to 62 as the West African nation managed to win five medals at the 2022 edition.

Boxing delivered Ghana’s first three medals at the Games, with Abraham Mensah and Joseph Commey winning silver medals, while Abdul Wahid Omar won bronze.

In athletics, Joseph Paul Amoah took bronze after impressively finishing third in the final of the 200m event with a time of 20.49s, becoming the first Ghanaian to win a medal in 200m since George Daniels in 1974.

Finally, Ghana’s long jumper Deborah Acquah ended with bronze, having come in third place after a leap of 6.94m in the final.

The men 4x100m relay team had their dreams to compete in the finals shuttered due to administrative lapses.

The team were disqualified from the finals despite finishing third with a time of 39.05s.

Team Ghana initially listed Joseph Paul Amoah but the Ghana Athletics Association opted to replace him with Barnabas Aggerh because the Joe Paul will compete later tonight in the men’s 200m finals which was against competition rules.

AMPEM DARKOA FAILS AT CAF WOMEN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFIERS

Ghana’s representatives at the 2022 CAF Women Champions League campaign failed to make it past the qualification stage.

Nigerian women premier league champions Bayelsa Queens shuttered the dreams of Ampem Darkoa Ladies to play in their first ever CAF Champions league finals.

The Nanamma were eliminated in the finals of the WAFU B Champions League qualifiers at the Stade Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat to the Nigerian champions.

HOCKEY

(Ghana’s performance at the 2022 Hockey African cup of nations)

The 2022 Hockey African cup of nations was hosted in Accra in February at the Theodocia Okoh Hockey Pitch in Accra.

The tournament saw the men national team, the Golden Sticks failing to beat Nigeria in their ultimate group game, a result that saw them exit the tournament.

Ghana’s female hockey team however qualified  to the finals but lost 3-1 to South Africa which denied them a spot for the 2022 World Hockey Cup.

WEIGHTLIFTING

(Ghana qualifies for Commonwealth games)

Winnifred Ntumi and Forrester Osei became the only Ghanaians to qualify for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Ntumi,  who competes in the women 49kg bodyweight category together with Uk-based Ghanaian, Osei who also competes in the men 96kg bodyweight category won gold at international Open Weightlifting Championships held in Mauritius.

This championship served as a qualification for the commonwealth games.

ARMWRESTLING

(GHANA WINS 45MEDALS AT THE AFRICAN ARMWRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP)

The national armwrestling team, the Golden Arms had one of it best seasons, winning a total of 45 medals to finish third at the 11th Africa Armwrestling Championships which was held in Lagos, Nigeria.

The Golden arms won 18 gold medals, 22 silver and five bronze medals to finish behind hosts Nigeria (27 gold medals) and Egypt (24 gold medals).

SWIMMING

(Abeiku Jackson grabs gold, silver medals at CANA Senior African Swimming Championships)

Captain of Ghana’s swimming team, Abeiku Jackson stood tall on the medal podium at the CANA Senior African Swimming Championships which was held in Tunis.

Jackson came first to win a gold medal for Ghana in the final of the Men’s 100 metres butterfly with a time of 53.89 seconds.

Abeiku, together with Zaria Forson and Nubia Adjei however failed to win a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth games held in Birmingham.