Ghana trio to sprint for gold in 200m finals

Tonight, the spotlight shines on Ghana's Joseph Paul Amoah, Fuseini Ibrahim and Janet Mensah as they prepare to dash for glory in the 200m finals at the 13th African Games at the University of Ghana Stadium.

While Janet finished second in her semi-final race, Amoah and Ibrahim also made sure of qualification by picking the two slots in their semi-final race.

Janet, who showcased her prowess by clinching second place in the semi-finals, aims to build on her recent success in the women's 4x100m relay.

Overcoming a sluggish start, the 25-year-old surged through the 100-metre stretch, clocking an impressive 23.83 seconds, trailing closely behind Gina Miriam Bass, the silver medallist in the 100m event who clocked 23.42 seconds.

Amoah, Ibrahim in battle

In the men's division, teammates Amoah and Ibrahim dominated their semi-final race, securing the top two positions and ensuring their spot in the finals.

Amoah's lightning-fast start propelled him into the lead by the 150-metre mark and then eased up to win the race in a time of 20.93 seconds. 

Meanwhile, Ibrahim, determined to punch his ticket to the final, displayed remarkable determination as he got off to a good start, kept the momentum and grabbed the second spot in 21.03 secs ahead of Elvis Gaseb of Namibia (21.16s).

For today's final, Ibrahim will start in lane 2 while Amoah has been assigned lane 6.

However, the Ghanaian contingent could have been even stronger with Solomon Hammond narrowly missing out on qualification after finishing fifth in the first semi-final race won by Cameroun's Emmanuel Itoungue (20.82s).

Hammond, who won silver in the men's 4x100m final last Wednesday, got off to a poor start and could not recover in good time to qualify for the final at his maiden African Games.