Five Ghanaians are representing the country in the 2020 African Draughts Championship. The tournament is taking place online because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The players are Edmund Crystal Owusu, Michael Abu, Yaw Obeng, Stephen Kwaku Owusu and Joshua Armah.

The Ghana Draughts Federation based in Amakom, Ghana’s biggest draught playing hub started preparing players for international games back in 2012.

The team’s first international tournament took place in Malawi in 2018, where Michael Abu won bronze.

The team was supposed to participate in the World Draughts Championship in California when the country went into lockdown.

This year’s game will last for five weeks.

The team leader, Edmund Crystal Owusu has been taking the players through the rudiments of the online game.

“Though they know how to use the computer, using it to play games is quite different, so I had to log in all the members and show them many things,” he said.

Bronze medalist, Michael Abu is confident the team will win big in this year’s competition.

“Because of the education we’ve had, I know how to use the computer well and I know I’ll sail through” he is hopeful.

President of Ghana Draughts Federation, Nana Obeng Afriyie says his outfit will be scouting players nationwide to reinforce their place in Africa.

“We’ll be recruiting players in the regions and train them for Africa so we can win the competition,” he hinted.