Badminton Gets Boost    15-Jun-2007   Ghana  Source: GNA
GHANA BADMINTON Association, last week received ¢10 million from the National Sports Council (NSC) to take care of players who are in a non-residential camp preparing for the forthcoming All-African Games in Algiers from July11-23, 2007.
Sources close to the NSC indicated that ¢10 million was given to all associations under its outfit to prepare the athletes adequately for the All-African Games, with the exception of the Hockey Association delegation that will travel to Kenya for the same purpose.
According to Mr. Ignatius Elletey, the Secretary General of the Ghana Badminton Association, the six players who are to compete in the coming fiesta are still in non-residential camp and they will start residential camping at Legon Campus by June 20, 2007.
“We want to use Sabah Hall at Legon for the camping of four men and two females who are under coach Frank Shamo to also get access to train”.
Melcom Shop is the only sponsor that has helped the Badminton so far during the non-residential training, he said, adding that the NSC has also organized equipment like rackets for the team.
Mr. Elletey explained that the Badminton team should be a medal hope this year because the players have been training consistently- morning and evening- after their competition in Algeria last December.
He predicted that there is hope that the players will bring home at least two gold medals because, according to him, their number two seed in the female division, Joseline Davis, reached the quarter-finals during their last outing.
In the boys’ division, the number one and two seeds failed to shine in their last outing because they lacked experience: However, the exposure they have gained now will propel them to also win medals this time round , Mr. Elletey concluded.

Badminton experts from Mauritius are expected in the country to organize a ten day badminton coaching course for selected coaches across the country.
The Level One Coaching course is an initiative of the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Ghana Olympic Committee with funding from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
According to information gathered by the GNA Sports, the course has been fixed for April 23 to May 3 at the C.K. Gyamfi Sports College, Winneba.
About twenty Badminton coaches drawn from all the ten regions of the country are expected to participate in the programme.
The programme forms part of the efforts of the IOC through its local affiliate, the GOC to improve sporting discipline on the globe.
Ghana has for the past years been an active participant in international badminton competitions but has failed to register its name on the medal table.

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