August 4 - Ghana's boys hockey team have become the first foreign team to arrive in Singapore for the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games.



The 30-strong contingent - 20 players and 10 officials - arrived at Changi International Airport for the Games, which are due to open on August 14 and feature 3,600 athletes.

Ghana received a low-key welcome and met only by two Singapore Hockey Federation (SHF) officials, who helped them board bus to their hotel.

The Youth Olympic Village will be officially open on August 10, but that did not deter Ghana, who will bear the cost of their accommodation till then.

"We are coming here early so that the team can acclimatise before the competition," said general manager Richard Akpokavie.

"We plan to train a bit and play a few matches that the very helpful SHF will help to organise.

"It was a very long 15 hours in the air [via Dubai] and we are very excited to come to Singapore.

"We know it will be difficult, but our target is to get into the medals."

The Games will feature athletes aged between 14 to 18 years and the hockey competition is for players aged 16 to 17 years.

The boys' event will see Belgium, Chile, Pakistan, Ghana, Australia and hosts Singapore compete in a round-robin format, with the top four moving into the semi-finals.

Ghana are ranked third on the African continent, but they beat the odds when they overcame the two countries ranked above them in the six-team qualifying tournament for the Games held in East London, South Africa, in February.

In the final two games, Ghana beat Egypt 4-1 and then stunned top-ranked South Africa 3-2 on penalty strokes after the game ended 2-2, to become Africa's representatives at the Youth Olympics.

"We intend to achieve the same sort of results here," said Akpokavie.

"We are very inspired by the performance of Ghana at the [FIFA] World Cup, and that is a big motivation for us here."


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