The Ghana national hockey team, the Black Sticks, kicked off their 2019 African Hockey Olympic Qualifiers with a bang defeating rivals Kenya 3-2 at the Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

The Kenyans are no strangers to their Ghanaian counterparts defeating them 4-3 to finish 3rd in the 2015 edition of the qualifiers, but couldn’t get past the tenacity of their opponents this time around as the Black Sticks came back twice from a goal down before sealing victory.

Constant Wakhura got the ball rolling with a goal in the 28th minute before Exchequers’ Benjamin Kwofie got Ghana back in the game in the 37th minute, the 51st minute would see Kenya reclaim their lead through Festus Onyango but this wouldn’t last long as Ghana’s Elikem Akaba would get the goal back only after a minute. With the game heading towards a draw, Salya Nsalbini would convert a penalty corner in the dying seconds to secure the three points for Ghana.

The Black Sticks will now face Namibia tomorrow 13 August, 2019 at 1PM GMT and you can catch it live on the Shoott South AfricaFacebook page.

Vivan Narkuor brace leads Ghana to victory over Zimbabwe

3-1 was the score at the Stellenbosch University, South Africa as the Ghanaian national female team defeated Zimbabwe to open their 2019 African Hockey Olympic Qualifiers with a victory.

The last time these two countries faced each other was at the 2015 African Hockey Olympic Qualifiers with Ghana easing to a 4-0 victory in that encounter.

Ghana’s Vivan Narkuor was on fire during the game scoring a brace in three minutes the first coming the 10th and her last goal coming in the 13th, but Zimbabwe came back strong getting a goal back in the 21st minute through Sophie McDonald before Roberta Sarfo put the game beyond doubt in the 36th minute.

Next up for Ghana tomorrow 13th August, 2019 is Kenya who struggled to defeat Namibia by 1-0, you can also catch the action live on Shoott South Africa Facebook page.