{"id":113800,"date":"2026-02-02T13:55:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=113800"},"modified":"2026-02-02T13:55:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:55:06","slug":"hockey-royal-ladies-suffer-penalty-heartbreak-as-gra-men-salvage-bronze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=113800","title":{"rendered":"Hockey: Royal Ladies suffer penalty heartbreak as GRA men salvage bronze"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 23 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

The treble dream of the Royal Ladies of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) ended in heartbreak last Saturday after a narrow defeat to Kenya\u2019s Lakers in the final of the 2026 African Hockey Federation (AfHF) African Club Champions Cup (ACCC) in Zimbabwe.
\nIn a match they largely controlled, the five-time African champions were left to rue a night of costly profligacy in front of goal. Despite earning more than 15 penalty corners, the Royal Ladies failed to convert a single one, allowing the contest to drift to a penalty shootout.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There, the Kenyans held their nerve to win 2\u20130, denying GRA a record-extending title and shattering their hopes of a historic treble.
\nWhile the women fell just short of glory, the GRA men ensured the Ghanaian contingent did not leave empty-handed. They secured the bronze medal after edging hosts Hippo of Zimbabwe in a tense shootout in the curtain-raiser to the men\u2019s final.
\nHaving seen their title challenge end with a 2\u20131 semi-final defeat to eventual champions Port Fouad of Egypt last Friday, the men responded with character. They fought back from a hard-fought 2\u20132 draw to prevail 2\u20131 in the shootout, with Ernest Obeng Opoku and Ignatius Blankson on target in regulation time.
\nPeter Adjetey and Louis Kugbey then kept their composure from the spot while Luke Damalie capped another outstanding display by earning his second man-of-the-match award of the tournament.
\nMen\u2019s team salvage bronze
\nThere was further consolation for the Ghanaians in the form of individual honours. Skipper Elizabeth Opoku emerged as the tournament\u2019s top scorer with seven goals, while Eugene Acheampong and Matilda Addison were named men\u2019s and women\u2019s Goalkeepers of the Tournament, respectively.
\nFor Addison, the accolade marked a remarkable back-to-back achievement, following her heroics at last year\u2019s championship in Ismailia, Egypt. Acheampong, who was named MVP in GRA\u2019s opening group victory over Hotspurs of Zambia, also played a decisive role in the shootout that sealed third place.
\nLast year\u2019s tournament MVP and top scorer, Vivian Narkuor, alongside Mavis Berko\u2014who claimed two MVP awards\u2014also picked up match honours during the 2026 event.
\nDespite the individual recognition, GRA Head of Sports and leader of the delegation, Ebenezer Frimpong, cut a visibly frustrated figure after the final, insisting the missed opportunity to make history overshadowed everything else.
\n\u201cWe gave away the trophy,\u201d a clearly disillusioned Frimpong told the Graphic Sports from Harare. \u201cI am going to reflect on the games to see where we got it wrong, \u2014 as players, technical staff and administrators.
\n\u201cAs head of sports, I take full responsibility for not being able to bring the trophy home. I feel disappointed and sorry for letting down the entire staff of GRA and Ghanaians. We have no excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n

\"\u2022<\/p>\n

The treble dream of the Royal Ladies of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) ended in heartbreak last Saturday after a narrow defeat to Kenya\u2019s Lakers in the final of the 2026 African Hockey Federation (AfHF) African Club Champions Cup (ACCC) in Zimbabwe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a match they largely controlled, the five-time African champions were left to rue a night of costly profligacy in front of goal. Despite earning more than 15 penalty corners, the Royal Ladies failed to convert a single one, allowing the contest to drift to a penalty shootout.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There, the Kenyans held their nerve to win 2\u20130, denying GRA a record-extending title and shattering their hopes of a historic treble.<\/p>\n

While the women fell just short of glory, the GRA men ensured the Ghanaian contingent did not leave empty-handed. They secured the bronze medal after edging hosts Hippo of Zimbabwe in a tense shootout in the curtain-raiser to the men\u2019s final.<\/p>\n

Having seen their title challenge end with a 2\u20131 semi-final defeat to eventual champions Port Fouad of Egypt last Friday, the men responded with character. They fought back from a hard-fought 2\u20132 draw to prevail 2\u20131 in the shootout, with Ernest Obeng Opoku and Ignatius Blankson on target in regulation time.<\/p>\n

Peter Adjetey and Louis Kugbey then kept their composure from the spot while Luke Damalie capped another outstanding display by earning his second man-of-the-match award of the tournament.<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s team salvage bronze<\/h2>\n

There was further consolation for the Ghanaians in the form of individual honours. Skipper Elizabeth Opoku emerged as the tournament\u2019s top scorer with seven goals, while Eugene Acheampong and Matilda Addison were named men\u2019s and women\u2019s Goalkeepers of the Tournament, respectively.<\/p>\n

For Addison, the accolade marked a remarkable back-to-back achievement, following her heroics at last year\u2019s championship in Ismailia, Egypt. Acheampong, who was named MVP in GRA\u2019s opening group victory over Hotspurs of Zambia, also played a decisive role in the shootout that sealed third place.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s tournament MVP and top scorer, Vivian Narkuor, alongside Mavis Berko\u2014who claimed two MVP awards\u2014also picked up match honours during the 2026 event.<\/p>\n

Despite the individual recognition, GRA Head of Sports and leader of the delegation, Ebenezer Frimpong, cut a visibly frustrated figure after the final, insisting the missed opportunity to make history overshadowed everything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gave away the trophy,\u201d a clearly disillusioned Frimpong told the Graphic Sports from Harare. \u201cI am going to reflect on the games to see where we got it wrong, \u2014 as players, technical staff and administrators.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs head of sports, I take full responsibility for not being able to bring the trophy home. I feel disappointed and sorry for letting down the entire staff of GRA and Ghanaians. We have no excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113800\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}