At the 2023 BWF World Junior Badminton Championship in the United States (US), three youngsters represented Ghana and Africa.
The World Championships also act as an Olympic preparation event for the global tournament in Paris in 2024. Prior to this, Ghana’s Badminton squad featured in South African and Nigerian events, as well as a National Open last summer.
Yeboah Evans, Ghana’s Badminton President, led a 16-man contingent of players and supervisors to the Championship. Team Ghana made history by capturing the mixed team event for the first time in the Championships’ 23-year record.
Over 54 countries are competing for medals in the United States, with Ghana dispatching a few players but recording advances that can only inspire a more major achievement sooner as opposed to later.
The young players, some of whom are traveling outside of the country for the first time, are impressing even officials from their opponents, earning accolades for having a bright future ahead of them as they prepare for the 2023 African Games, the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 2026 Youth Olympics, and other international open and invitational events.
Ghana became the first African country to reach the finals in their Mix Team Group, where it was defeated by Norway.
Ghanaian players Andy Amofa and Elvis Osei finished fourth and fifth in the Mixed Team Event, respectively, while Moslena Adu finished tenth overall. Ghana had to settle for second place in the group game, but it was still a remarkable accomplishment. Amofa made a rare service fault but swiftly rebounded, smashing a cross-court smash to take the lead at 11-09.
Amofa perplexed Norway’s Aldrin NELSON in an important scenario by returning a shuttle that gazed to be traveling wide, but the Norway player managed to keep it near to the net. Amofa retrieved the shuttle and grabbed an 11-09 lead with a well-executed backflip to the other side of the court.
Despite Nelson preserving two match points, he failed to return a body smash by Amofa at the net, and Ghana lost the last game 3-0, handing Norway a winning match, capping up one of the most exciting badminton matches of the Ghanaian players’ careers.
Ghana outperformed the last World Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and now holds the top spot in the 2024 France Olympics Qualification rating, with four more international matches remaining before the April 28, 2028, deadline.
Story By: Suraiya Illiasu – Ahotor Sports Desk
