The 11th and eighth editions of the Hockey African Cup of Nations hosted by Ghana kicked off with a grand opening ceremony at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium in Accra on Monday.
The colourful ceremony was attended by the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mr. Mustapha Ussif, National Sports Authority (NSA) boss, Professor Peter Twumasi, Vice President of the African Hockey Federation, Mr. Nii Quaye Kumah, GOC President, Ben Nunoo Mensah, Ghana 2023 AG LOC Chairman,Dr. Kweku Ofosu Asare and Mr. Yoofi Grant, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre among others.
The week-long tournament has seven other countries and will serve as qualifiers to represent Africa at the World Hockey Cup slated for the Netherlands and India in 2023.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Mustapha Yussif tasked other federations to emulate the good job done by the hockey federation to build their capacity.
These events boost the economic development of the country where the entire continent come together as a unit”, he said.
In the opening games, the male and female teams, Black Sticks recorded draws.
The female hockey team kicked their campaign off with a 2-2 stalemate against Nigeria.
In other results, Namibia beat Uganda 3-0 as South Africa also won same against Zimbabwe.
In the male division, Ghana was held to a 1-1 draw by counterparts Uganda.
Other results saw Egypt beat Nigeria 4-2 and South Africa hammering Namibia 13-0 in the last game.
