B’ball: Alhassan wins MVP award
Accra Polytechnic point guard, Abdul Mutaleb Alhassan, was last Friday adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2015 Ghana Basketball season, pipping three of his teammates to the coveted award.
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Alhassan, nicknamed ‘Varanda,’ fended off competition from his support cast -- Romeo Enan Wilfred, Baniba Norbert Dodzi and Daniel Nii Aryee -- to clinch the top award for his efforts during the season, which saw Accra Poly triumph in both the Universities Polytechnics and Colleges (UPAC) Championship and Ghana Polytechnic Sports Association (GHAPSA) games.
Alhassan’s teammates and coach did not go home without silverware as representatives of Accra Poly, who were incidentally named the Team of the Year, dominated the competitive section of the awards held at the TV3 Studios in Accra.
Experienced trainer of Accra Poly, Brimah Lawal, beat his main challenger Emmanuel Quaye (Rubberman) of Tema Youth and Braves, to win the Coach of the Year gong for the second year running, while another Accra Poly representative, Romeo Wilfried Enan, outfoxed Nana Owusu Agyei Afriyie (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology), Ibrahim Mohammed (University of Cape Coast) and Kingsley Quist (Zenith University College) to win the Tertiary Player of the Year award.
University of Cape Coast’s Yayra Kluiboto emerged the Female MVP after beating challengers Belinda Tawiah (CEPS), Claudia Seidu (Takoradi Polytechnic) and Grace Martina Doe (Accra Polytechnic).
Edwin Appiah Sarkodie of Legon Presbyterian Boys SHS and T.I Ahmadiyya’s Rachel Obeng won the male and female High School Player of the Year respectively, while Isaac Kobina Owusu Mensah of Mfantsipim SHS was crowned the High School Coach of the Year and Anthony Anane was named the Referee of the Year.
Other notable winners in the non-competing categories included Accra Poly (Male/Female GHAPSA Team of the Year and UPAC Team of the Year), Braves of CEPS (Male/Female Team of the Year), Mfantsipim SHS (Male High School Team of the Year) and TI Amass (Female High School of the Year).
The chairman of the Ghana Basketball Association, David Addo-Ashong, in an address, disclosed that his outfit was concluding negotiations with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation to construct an indoor sports facility at the University of Ghana, Legon.
