Nearly 24 hours after Ghana beat Nigeria in the Africa Games’ U-20 women’s football final, the hosts once again defeated their West African rivals in a tense affair in the hockey final.
The Ghana women’s hockey team, Black Sticks, secured Ghana’s 12th gold medal at the 2023 African Games after defeating Nigeria on penalties in the final at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Pitch.
Initially, Ghana’s team had defeated Nigeria 1-0 en route to the final. But the Nigerian team started stronger in the finals, signalling their intent to avenge the earlier loss.
The Nigerian ladies piled pressure but fine saves from Ghana’s shot stopper, Abigail Boye prevented them from scoring.
After two-quarters of an underwhelming performance, the Black Sticks began to find their rhythm in the third quarter creating chances and pinning the Nigerians at their own half.
But, the Nigerian goalkeeper, Uko Martha made scoring difficult for the Ghanaian players as she came up with super saves to prevent the ball from entering her net.
After four quarters of huffing and puffing, the game had to be decided on penalties.
Goalkeeper, Abigail Boye came to the rescue as her four penalty saves helped Ghana beat Nigeria 4-3 on penalties to win gold.
