Defending Champions, Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary are through to the semifinals of the GOIL PLC Eastern Regional Championship.

They have qualified from a hard-won victory over the 2023 runner-up Abuakwa State College.

Abuakwa State gave Pope John a run for their money when they took charge and determined the pace of the competition in the first two rounds.

Abusco ended the first round with 22 points ahead of Pope John’s 17 points.

They extended the lead in the second round with just two points, ending with 24 points. Pope John also accrued 3 more points to end with 20 points, closing the gap with a point.

But, in the true or false round, Pope John brought their A-game to play and gained 16 points to end the round on 36 points. Abuakwa on the other hand added only 10 to theirs, totaling 34.

With a 2-point lead now, it has become Pope John’s game to lose, with their pride as defending champions at stake.

Fortunately for them, they answered the third riddle of the fourth round, on the last clue and got three additional points. Abuakwa State College also attempted the last riddle and got it right. But, unfortunately, that was not enough to get them through.

Pope John SHS and Minor Seminary have the breakthrough with 39 points at the end of the day. Abuakwa was relegated to second place with 34 points. Suhum SHTS and Manya Krobo SHS came 3rd and 4th with 28 and 17 points respectively.

Pope John has an opportunity to attempt another shot at defending their title in the semifinal.

SEMI FINALS

The first semifinal round will be a Koforidua love affair between Pope John SHS and Minor Seminary, Koforidua Sec. Tech, and “beacons of the east” Ghana SHS, Koforidua.

The second fixture will be between three-time regional and national champions, St. Peters SHS, Presby SHS, Suhum, and Benkum SHS.

Winners from these two competitions and the second-placed highest-scoring school will proceed to the grand finale to battle it out for the trophy and a cash prize of GHC 4000.00 from the sponsors, GOIL PLC.