Ghana's Badminton team
Head Coach of the national badminton team, Davis Ephraim, says his target with the team is to reach the zone of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
He said the national team has lots of talents and potential and is currently working on a few challenges in their techniques which when done, would get them far in the competition.
The coach made this statement in an interview with The Finder after their training schedule at the Sky Badminton Training Center in Brisbane, Australia yesterday.
“When I set targets, I make sure I get it and with this team, all I need is a medal; whether bronze, silver or gold, all I need is a medal and I will make sure I get it with them,” he said.
Ephraim, who is an Indonesian level three coach, was appointed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) about eight weeks ago to assist the Black Shutters in their preparation for the games.
He told the Finder that prior to his arrival in Ghana, he felt the country did not have quality players but after engaging them for a while, he had a different perception and that has motivated him to do more for the country.
He added that most of the Ghanaian badminton players need more exposure and enough matches to propel them to greater levels in the sport.
He mentioned that would be playing against Malaysia, Canada and Seychelles in the group stage of the competition and is targeting to finish second in the group to qualify to the next round.
He said Malaysia is ranked number one in the world and thus a match-up with them would be very tough but said he is ready for the task ahead adding that Canada also has a good female doubles’ team and is also working on meeting them squarely.
Ghana would be represented by eight players (four male and four female) in badminton namely; Abraham Aryeetey, Emmanuel Donkor, Daniel Sam, Michael Opoku Baah, Grace Atipaka, Eyram Yaa Migbodzi, Stella Ansah and Gifty Musa. Coach Ephraim would be assisted by Winneba based coach Philip Baah.
