Rafael Nadal has had his request for a wild card invitation to next week’s Argentina Open accepted as the Spaniard rejigs his schedule after his shock Australian Open exit.

The world No 5 lost in the first round of a Grand Slam for just the second time in his career to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in Melbourne.

After his unexpectedly early departure the 29-year-old travelled to Mallorca to start training for what could be a make or break year on clay, starting now with the defence of his title in Buenos Aires.

The President of the Ghana Hockey Association (GHA) Mr Richard Akakpovie has expressed concern about the perennial neglect of the sport by the state, saying lack of government’s funding and logistics last year denied the national hockey teams opportunity to qualify for the Rio Olympics Games

“Had the government provided the requisite financial support, hockey would have salvaged the image of Ghana so far as intenerational tournaments were concerned,” he told the Daily Graphic in an interview.

Lamenting over the neglect of hockey in terms of funds over the last four years, Mr Akakpovie noted “ last year, our target was to qualify for the Rio Olympics ,but unfortunately, the ladies just missed out, and even though they missed out, they did very well because we had the best player and the best goalkeeper in the tournament in the persons of Nafisatu Maro and Bridget Azumah.”

The Ghana National Rifle Association (GNRA) has rolled out a five-year development plan aimed at winning medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

The President of the GNRA, Cillian George Walsh, who announced this, said  the GNRA was also making adequate preparations to enable the national shooting team (Black Snipers) to participate in the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Walsh noted "Our main focus is the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, so we have rolled out a five-year plan for that.

"This will  be preceded by the Commonwealth Games in two years even though we have the opportunity of qualifying for the Rio Olympics this year. "

Accra Hearts of Oak yesterday beat visiting FC Ifeanyi-Ubah of Nigeria 2-0 in an international friendly at the Accra Sports Stadium.

It was  Hearts’ first win after a string of defeats under their Japanese-born America coach, Kenichi Yatsuhashi, who has come under intense fire.

Newly- signing Samudeen Ibrahim capitalised on a sloppy defence after a volley from Eric Kumi to open the scores.

Five taekwondo practitioners resident in the Greater Accra and Volta regions last Saturday earned their black belts at the Ghana Taekwondo Federation Biennial Belt Promotion Test held at the WAM Taekwondo Academy in Tema.

The  five were among a group of 14 candidates who  excelled in  the strenuous promotion test , making it possible for them to earn different types of Dans (levels of black belt).

The black belt recipients were Messrs David Kodzo Amoah (1st Dan), Desmond Kodzo Nyarku (1st Dan), Alex Kumi (2nd Dan), Hannah Humphrey (2nd Dan) and Samuel Buckman (3rd Dan).

Mali came from goal down to beat Tunisia 2-1 in the quarter-finals  to advance to the semi-finals of the ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Rwanda.

Mohamed Ali Moncer gave Tunisia the lead in the first-half but a second-half penalty from Aliou Dieng and a goal with 10 minutes left to play from Abdoulaye Diarra sealed the win for Mali.

The victory sets Mali up for the semi-final against neighbours Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday.

Cote d’Ivoire themselves had to wait till extra time to  beat Cameroun

3-0 in their quarter-final encounter, while the Democratic Republic of Congo also dashed the hope of hosts, Rwanda, when they relied on extra time goals to win 2-1.

The Board of Directors of Accra Hearts of Oak had at its last meeting decided to place Coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi on five-match probation in the upcoming Premier League.

According to a source, the Japanese-born American’s fate hangs on his performance in the matches as failure to meet that target will earn him the sack.

Defiant Accra Hearts of Oak coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi is still certain that his side will triumph both in the League and the FA Cup.

The Phobians have struggled in most of their pre-season encounters but things appeared to have improved last Sunday when they played Inter-Allies in a friendly game at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Most Phobians have been skeptical about the prospects of the team in capturing the league let alone securing the double.

But the Japanese- born American insists he will bring the smiles back to the faces of the fans.

Aduana Stars number one goalie, Stephen Adams, says he is working very hard to make his way back into the senior national team.

He told the Graphic Sports in an interview that, “With my injury worries over and currently in fine form, I hope to use this football season to bounce back into the senior national team”.

Adams believes Aduana can repeat their 2009/10 season success story when they won the league for the first time.

New Premier League Board (PLB) chairman, Ashford Tettey-Oku, insists Capital Bank (formerly First Capital Plus Bank) remains title sponsors of the Premier League in spite of a unilateral suspension of the contract by the bank two months ago, casting doubts over whether the 2015/16 season will commence next month without sponsorship.

The PLB boss told the Graphic Sports yesterday that Capital Bank had a contractual agreement with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and as far as he was aware the FA had not given any indication that the contract had been abrogated.

Reacting to concerns by Premier League clubs about the uncertainty over the league sponsorship, Mr Tettey-Oku said much as he identified with their apprehension, there was no cause for alarm.

Ghanaian premiership clubs will step-up their preparations for the upcoming season, which is expected to start on February 20, with a series of exciting matches this weekend.

As of the time of going to press yesterday, many clubs were still scrambling to book last-minute opponents after being hit by late withdrawals or postponements.

Dreams FC were one of such casualties with their Administrative Manager, Ameenu Shardow, confirming to the Graphic Sports that their intended opponents for an abortive high-profile friendly, Accra Hearts of Oak, had asked for a postponement in order to mark the 11th anniversary of winning the CAF Confederations Cup.

African football legend Camero-unian Roger Milla has heaped praise on the ongoing African Nations Championship, saying the standards and level of football had gone up since the last edition hosted by South Africa in 2014.

Speaking to Supersport.com at Huye in Butare the Legend spoke highly of the organisers describing Rwanda as having done an exemplary job to organise the tournament and praising the infrastructure as the group stages came to an end.

The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Vincent Oppong Asamoah, has urged the two Ghanaian clubs participating in the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup to make Ghana proud.

AshantiGold and Medeama will be Ghana’s representatives in the Champions League and Confederations Cup as winners of the First Capital Plus Premier League and MTN FA Cup respectively.

Ashgold begin their continental campaign next month when they host Algerian side MO Bejaia in the first round qualifier at the Len Clay Stadium at Obuasi, while Tarkwa-based Medeama, who drew a bye in the preliminary stage of the confederation cup, will face the winner of the match involving Al Ittihad of Libya and AS Sonidep of Niger in the 1/16th round clash.

Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) boss, Alhaji M.N.D. Jawula, will lead a team of members of the Club Licensing Board to undertake an inspection of home venues for

Premier League and Division One clubs this weekend ahead of the 2015/16 football season.

Alhaji Jawula, who is the chairman of the board, will be responsible for the Brong Ahafo Region with other members deployed to other regions.

The 1997 year group of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), “GIJ '97 Supreme” Alumni, has donated 1000 quantities of notepads and dairies to the institute as part of the homecoming activities of the group.

The Minister of Youth and Sports designate, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, who made the donation on behalf of the group, expressed delight in giving back to the premier journalism training institute that helped shaped the lives of members.

The group also promised donating jerseys,footballs and other sporting kits to the institute.

According to him, the group intends to offer more support to the institute to facilitate its development.