After nine rounds of chess at the 2023 African Games, Ghana won no medals in the singles event as the best players came 13th and 16th respectively.
Despite the disappointing performance, the Coach of Team Ghana, Philip Ameku is happy with the players.
“We are excited to see Team Ghana represented by two teams. Although currently Egypt is in the lead, we’ve had high moments when we met Nigeria and we stopped their champion. You know the rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria so that has been our biggest moment in this competition.”
He also added that the African Games is a stepping stone for Ghana to compete at the World Chess Olympiad.
“This competition is important because it is a stepping stone for our preparations towards the 2024 World Chess Olympiad which is scheduled to take in Hungary in September. The players here are the same players who will play at the World Chess competition so we look forward to a better and improved performance from our players.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria came third in the chess singles competition after winning a total of 5 points out of 9.
Bronze medalist Peace Samson says she is excited to win Nigeria’s first medal in chess for the time in 12 years.
“I feel so excited because we have not won any medal for the past 12 years even though we didn’t win the gold but we went home with the bronze so I am so excited about it..it’s a first-time experience and I really learnt a lot so I going to put in much effort and come back stronger in subsequent events.”
Source: myjoyonline.com
