THE national armwrestling team, the Golden Arms, at the weekend added to the all-time medal haul by any federation after grabbing 18 medals at the 10th Africa Armwrestling Championships in Bamako, Mali.
The Golden Arms, who went into the 2019 Championships as the defending champions, proudly managed 11 gold, five silver and two bronze medals to secure third position out of 12 countries.
After vehemently protesting the entries by hosts Mali and being denied playing in its best selected category, the Ghanaians participated in the two-day Championships under protest.
Grace Commey defeated a long list of Malians and a Guinean to win double Gold in the Women’s Junior and Senior 50kg category and placed fourth in the Youth 65kg, while Prince Afum and Aziz Abdul Wahab also grabbed double gold.
Eighty-plus (80+Kg) puller Mariam Kadri Moro also snatched double gold for Ghana but the female battle of the event was between Nigeria’s contender and Police officer Grace Minta. The latter fought an entertaining and fierce battle to beat her Nigerian counterpart to win a gold and silver for Ghana in the 80kg right and left.
Ghana’s medal list has Grace Karley Commey (4 gold), Mariam Kadiri Moro (2 gold and 1 bronze), Prince Affum (2 gold) and Grace Minta (1 gold and 1 silver).
The rest are Abdul Aziz Wahab (1 gold and 1 bronze), Elliot Lamptey Nelson (2 silver), Isaac Nii Amugi (1 silver) and Edward Asamoah.
Hosts Mali placed first, followed by Egypt with Nigeria finishing fourth. Guinea, Senegal, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Burkina Faso finished in that order.
