Sam, six others for C’wealth Games
Bernard Joe Sam of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) booked a place at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast after upstaging top seeds Felix Lartey and Emmanuel Asante in a table tennis selection competition at the D.G. Hathiramani Hall of the Accra Sports Stadium last Saturday.
On his way to winning the two-week competition, Sam defeated 10 higher – ranked players, having entered as a wild card but proved his mettle to make it to top the table on 28 points.
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He qualified to his third successive Commonwealth Games alongside six other table tennis players -- two females and four males -- Derek Abrefa, Lartey, Asante, Celia Baah-Danso and Cynthia Kwabi.
National team coach Anthony Owusu-Ansah told the Daily Graphic that the six qualified players would undergo further training and camping ahead of the games.
He confirmed that new techniques and faster ways of playing the game would be introduced in camping to equip the players to face the tough challenges expected at the games.
The Ghana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) President, Mawuko Afadzinu, congratulated the qualified players and charged them to put up a good performance and brave the odds and bring a medal home from the Gold Coast games.