Ghana handed tough draw in Badminton at Commonwealth Games

Ghana's badminton team have been drawn with Malaysia,Canada and Seychelles in Group D at at the 2018 Commonwealth games.

The draws held on Tuesday are based on world rankings.

Teams were split into four groups, with India placed into Group A due to boasting the highest world ranking of the competing nations.

Ghana will meet a tough challenge from second seed Malaysia, which also won the mixed events in Glasgow 2014.

However the President of Ghana Badminton Federation in an interview with ghanaguardian.com says his outfit are "very well" prepared for the tournament that will run from April 4 to 15.

"Badminton have already started their preparation for the Commonwealth games we have prepared very well to face Canada , Malaysia and Seychelles", Mr Yeboah Evans said.

"We will make sure Ghana win more medals in Australia.

"What we are appealing for now is Ghanaian support and cooperate sponsors to developed more athletes in Ghana."

According to the Ghana Olympic Committee(GOC) , Ghana will participate in about twelve (12) sports disciplines at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

However Badminton is the only sport among the 12 sporting disciplines that is participating in both the Individual and Mixed Team Events as it entails an individual event, a Team Event and a Mixed Team Event.

Ghana qualified for the commonwealth games for the first time in 28 years

The draw for the 16-team competition took place at The Star Gold Coast, one of the sponsors of the multi-sport event.

And it was hosted by Gold Coast 2018's multicultural community ambassador, Wai Kiong Chan.

The two top teams in each group will advance to the knock-out stage, which will take place between April 7 and 9 at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre.

Gold Coast 2018 chief executive Mark Peters said the competition was expected to garner major interest from across the world.
"Badminton is a sport that has true global reach and we will see some of the world's best in action at these Games," he said.

"Along with those packing the stands at Carrara, badminton is sure to draw huge television audiences in Asia, which is one of the sport's strongholds.

"I look forward to seeing nations such as Malaysia, India, England and Singapore going head-to-head along with host nation Australia and other emerging badminton countries."

In addition to the mixed team event, singles and doubles competitions are also set to take place at the Games.