Mens Relay Tea Steals Show Grand Prix

Ghana’s men relay team stole the show at the maiden edition of the rLG Ghana Grand Prix after securing qualification for the upcoming IAAF World Athletics Championship in Daegu with an impressive performance at the Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi.

The quartet which was made up of Aziz Zakari, Emmanuel Appiah-Kubi, Tim Abeyie and Ashaad Agyapong blitzed a quality field to record 38.93 seconds followed in second position by an international team led by Jamaica’s Oshane Bailey and Terrell Wilks of the USA in a time of 39.66 while Burkina Faso secured third position with 40.73 seconds while the Nigerian team failed to finish the race. Germany based sprinter Tim Abeyie and the US based Ashaad Agyapong joined the team for the first time after completing formalities to compete for Ghana but the duo forged an effective partnership with Emmanuel Appiah-Kubi and Aziz Zakari to move within the top 16 men’s relay team in the world ahead of Daegu 2011,

“This is a new team altogether apart from me and Appiah-Kubi, the rest of the guys joined us on the day of the competition,” Aziz Zakari told E TV Sports adding that “we haven’t had time to practice together and it’s amazing we put up a great show and had a chance to qualify for the World Athletics Championship.”

The women’s 4*100 relay team also took gold with a time of 44.37 secs but failed to qualify for the World Championship. The team which included Vida Anim, Beatrice Gyaman, Flings Owusu Agyapong and Rosina Amenebede easily beat their counter parts from Burkina Faso who were timed 46.97 and the Ashanti regional team. An international team failed to complete the race after dropping their button. Uganda and reigning African triple jumper Sara Nambawa staged a courageous comeback to win the women’s triple jump despite sustaining an injury during the women’s 4*100 relay race. Nambawa won with 13.68m and was followed by Nigeria’s Otonye Iworima with 13.37 while French based Mathilde Boateng took home the bronze medal with a leap of 12.98m.

The men's 100m was supposed to be the blue riband event of the meet but Ghana’s chances of winning the race diminished after top sprinter Aziz Zakari pulled out of the race due to cramps. American Terrel Wilks took the top prize clocking 10.28 ahead of Jamaica’s Oshane Bailey with a time of 10.32 and Nigeria’s Egwero Ogho-Oghene 10.42. Emmanuel Appiah-Kubi placed fourth. National Unity Games 100m and 200m champion Shepherd Agbeko continued with his good form taking bronze in the men’s 200m with a time of 20.92 behind eventual winner Jamaica’s Oshane Bailey 20.87 and Terrell Wilks 20.89. Elsewhere, Rosina Amenebede run a personal best of 13.59 in the women’s 100m hurdles although she was pushed to third place by America’s Nichole Denby 13.17 and Nigeria’s Jessica Ohanaja 13.53. Amenebede was part of the eight athletes who camped in Finland for eight weeks prior to the nation’s first track and field event. America’s Tianna Madison clocked 11.74 secs heading into a headwind of -0.9ms in the women’s 100m to beat Beatrice Gyaman into second with a time of 11.95 while Flings Owusu Agyapong took third position.

The men’s long jump witnessed an exciting climax as South Africa’s Luva Manyonga staged a last minute rally to topple Ignisious Gaisah with his last jump in the event. The error strewed competition saw Manyonga make four foul attempts after the South African mistimed his run. With Gaisah seemingly coasting to an easy victory with a jump of 8.03m, Manyonga leapfrogged his more experienced opponent jumping 8.08 in his last attempt. America’s Jarod Tobler took third with a leap of 8.01m.

Nigeria’s Comfort Onyali (Nigeria) won the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.29 (+0.2) following a close contest with Ghana’s Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu 6.29 (+0.6) while South Africa’s 3. Janice Josephs took third position with a jump of 6.26m (+0.2).

South Africa’s Ross Jordaan comfortably won the men’s Shot Put throwing a distance of 18.40m compared to Ezeofor kenechukwu of Nigeria who threw 15.94m and Kwabena Keene’s best throw of 15.72m. Kenya’s Willy Rotich won the battle against Uganda’s Ben Siwa stagina late rally as he strolled to victory in the men’s 3000m in a time of 8:01.67. Ghanna’ Mohammed Kasim followed in third position while Godwin Adukpo took fourth place.