Accra, Aug. 29, GNA - Brong Ahafo Region emerging winners of the maiden Airtel Rising Stars tournament after they pipped their Upper East counterparts 1-0 in the grand finale on Sunday at the El-Wak Stadum, Accra.

The young lads confirmed the Region's rise to fame lately as the powerhouse of Ghana football after successes chalked by Dormaa-based Aduana Stars and Berekum Chelsea in the national Premier League.

Striker Abraham Attiso scored the only goal of the match in the dying embers to deservingly hand his team the ultimate title.

The tournament, organized by telecommunications outfit, Airtel Ghana was aimed at unearthing budding talents for the national juvenile teams. Madam Betty Mould-Iddrisu, Minister of Education commended the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for citing acquisition of basic education as a prerequisite for entry into the national juvenile teams. The declaration, she noted would go a long in compelling the young one= s to take their studies seriously in the pursuit of football plus their educational ambitions. Kwesi Nyantakyi, GFA President expressed the conviction that the nucleus of the national U-17 male and female teams, the Black Starlets and Black Maidens, will be selected from the tourney.

He commended Airtel Ghana Limited for the initiative, which he said falls in tandem with the GFA's policy of youth football development. Mrinal Roy, Chief Operating Officer of Airtel Ghana said six talented players from the tourney will be selected to take part in a international football clinic in South Africa later in the year.

He announced that his outfit will pay US$50 for each goal scored at th= e finals, which would be used for the provision of infrastructure to two underprivileged schools in the country. The climax of the event saw a friendly match between members of the Black Starlets squad of 1991 and a team from Airtel Ghana, which came in favour of the Starlets team with Samuel Osei Kuffour scoring the only goal. The rest of the Starlets players present included Ben Owu, Mohammed Gargo, Kelvin Essien, Willie Brown, Abdul Karim Midjima, Daniel Addo, Emmanuel Duah, Thomas Duah, Ali Jaraah, Yaw Preko and Kofi Nimo. Also present were Awudu Issaka, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour and Humphrey Amoah. In a related development, in the Girls U-17 category, Fabulous Ladies of the Ashanti Region emerged victorious after beating Soccer Intellectuals of the Central Region 4-2 on penalties.

Arcadio Atimpim of Brong Ahafo was adjudged the overall best player fo= r the boys division whilst Priscilla Okyere of Fabulous Ladies was adjudged the best player for the Ladies event.

The winners in each category received goal medals and a cheque for 2,000 Ghana Cedis, silver medals plus 1500 Ghana cedis for the runners-up and bronze medals and 1000 Ghana cedis for the third place teams. There were also souvenirs for each player of the respective teams.