Black Cranes excel at Africa Championship

Two members of the national weightlifting team, Christian Amoah and Richmond Osarfo excelled at the just-ended Africa Weightlifting Junior and Youth Championship in Kampala, Uganda.

Black Cranes’ rising star, Christian Amoah was the toast of many in the 85kg category, and as usual, he did not disappoint and went on to prove why he was adjudged the male weightlifter for the year 2016 by the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG).

He won gold in snatch with a lift of 135kg, bronze in clean and jerk with a lift of 160kg, and a silver medal in total with 295kg.

Christian had earlier last month participated in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship, held in Gold Coast, Australia, where he snatched 135kg and made 162kg for clean and jerk, and finished with a total of 297kg.

On his part, Richmond also announced his presence after winning silver in snatch with a lift of 142kg, silver in clean and jerk with a lift of 188kg, and a silver medal in total with 330kg.

This is an improvement in his total lift by 10kg done in Gold Coast last month.

The Kampala Championship also serves as the final qualifying tournament for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and this performance by the duo has certainly boosted their chances of representing Ghana at the games.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) would present the final list of athletes who will be making it to the Gold Coast Games by October 31, 2017.