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Ghana picked her first two medals at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique courtesy, Maxwell Amponsah and David Bawa in the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions of the boxing events respectively. Amponsah and Bawa even though lost their respective fights in the semi finals, by the rules of the competition they will be compensated with bronze medals after their bouts in the late hours of Thursday. Amponsah lost to his Nigerian opponent, Apochi Efetobor by 8-12, whilst Bawa also lost to another Nigerian opponent, Lawal Lukeman by 7-17 in the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions respectively. Ghana made ten entries in the boxing categories but only two of her boxers made it into the medal zone of the competition, with the rest falling out in the preliminaries. The two medals comes as a major relief for the entire contingent, after failed attempts in Swimming, Netball, Cycling and Karate-Do in the six day old Pan African Sports Festival in the Southern African country. Ghana now joins the list of 18 countries to have won medals out of the 51 African countries participating in the event. =========== It�s Over For Ghana In Karate Do Ghana has again lost an opportunity to win medals at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, after the National Karate-Do team, failed to advance from the preliminaries of the competition. The team, which started their events two days ago, were eliminated from the four categories they participated in, with only Victor Lartey coming close to winning a medal in the Kata division, but was denied the opportunity on the day of the medal presentation. Ghana participated in -66, -78, -60, -81 categories and the Kato events but failed to make the needed impact in all of the events. Lartey who placed fourth in the individual Kato event, which is a demonstration of individual Karate skills and was assured of a medal after placing fourth, however had a disappointing moment when he appeared for the medal presentation ceremony. His name was instead replaced with a Karate-kat from South Africa, whom the organizers said had more points, hence deserved the fourth position which could have granted the Ghanaian a bronze medal. Patrick Anyidoho, General Secretary of the Ghana Karate-Do Association told the GNA Sports after the event that, the output of the Karate-Kats was a disappointing one as they expected a much more improved performance. He said the discipline had limited slots for the competition, which also accounted for their dismal performance. According to Anyidoho, there were categories in the group events that could have given the nation medals but due to restrictions on slots, they had to leave behind Karate-Kats for the group events. He suggested that the discipline be given more slots in future competitions to enable them make the participants make the desired impact. Ghana is yet to win a medal in the two week Pan African Sports Festival, after failed attempts by the participants in the Swimming, Boxing with Karate-Do events. There are however clear indications that the nation might grab medals in boxing and football with the qualification of the Black Princesses to the semi- finals of the football category. ================= Ghana beat Zimbabwe to advance to semi-finals of All Africa Games The Black Princesses of Ghana defeated their Zimbabwean counterparts 2-1 in the second game of the football category of the 10th All Africa Games, at the Mashava Stadium, Maxaquene to advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. The victory becomes the second straight win for the Princesses in the competition after they beat Tanzania in the opening game by a lone goal. The Princesses, however, had to come from a goal down in the first half to secure the match needed victory. Faiza Ibrahim scored both goals for Ghana in the 66th and 90th minute to send Ghana through to the next stage of the competition. Coach Kuuku Dadzie attributed the success of the Princesses to the positive mental attitude of the team coupled with good conditioning and tactical discipline adding that the victory was a major boost to the exploits of the team. ============================ Conditioning And Tactical Discipline Was The Key To Victory� Kuuku Dadzie Head coach of the National Under-19 team, the Black Princesses, Kuuku Dadzie has said that his side overcame Zimbabwe in the second group match of the female category of the 10th All Africa Games in Maxaquene, Mozambique due to good conditioning and tactical discipline. The Black Princesses came from a lone goal down to win the game by 2-1, which grants them automatic qualification to the semi finals of the competition. Kuuku Dadzie in an interview with GNA Sports after the match, said his charges won the first match with a late minute goal and repeated the same on Thursday, when they played Zimbabwe, which is an indication of their superior physical fitness. He said the team also demonstrated much tactical discipline in both games, hence their entry into the semi-finals of the competition with a 100 percent record. Coach Dadzie said even though they have qualified, they have one more game to deal with, adding that he will use the match to test his preparations for the next stage of the competition. The coach added that his team approached the two matches with the right mental discipline and this also accounted for their success so far in the competition. "We did not underrate any opponent in the competition, we saw each opponent as a threat and approached the match with the needed seriousness. "Our survival in the competition is a result of our seriousness and it is the same attitude we are going to use for the remaining matches, because we are bent on making a significant impact". He said. Coach Dadzie said having qualified for the semi-finals, the girls are now more confident of moving further to the finals and possibly win the gold medal. "We are one step away from the finals and all we need to do is work hard to win our semi-final game, because we have eyes firmly fixed on the ultimate". He added. The Princess will next take on South Africa on Sunday at the same venue to round up their group matches in the competition.