It was all smiles as Ghanaian duo of Eric Tsatsu and Kelvin Carboo beat Monaco by 2-1 to increase their chances of progressing to the next stage of the beach volleyball event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.

Ghana started the game on a strong footing winning the first set by 21 games to 14.

Loss of concentration and some communication blunders cost them the second set as Monaco won by 21 to 18. But the Ghanaians came back into the third set much stronger were determined to right their wrongs and better their game plan and clinch a win from Monaco.

That yielded positively as Eric Tsatsu and Kelvin Carboo combined beautifully to finish the game with a score of 18 to 15. Coach Moro Mumuni who was relaxed all through the game said hard work at training paid off.

“In the first match, I realized that the blocker, Eric Tsatsu was down and so I had to work massively on him. I did that from Sunday until earlier today (Tuesday) just before our second match and here we are!” Responding to why he was so calm throughout Ghana’s game, an elated Mumuni said “I know the capabilities of my boys and they also knew what they had to do on the court. So I just had to wait until the game was over to congratulate them.” Ghana next plays and must beat a strong Costa Rica side on Thursday to progress to the next stage of the competition.

Playmaker Eric Tsatsu believes “Ghana will have a better advantage. We saw them (Costa Rica) play on Sunday and we saw their weakness. We will build on that for a win on Thursday.” Hungary currently leads the pool G table after winning two out of two games and have already booked their ticket to the next stage of the beach volleyball event of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics no matter their result in their final game against Costa Rica on Thursday. On the medals table, Russia lead with a total of 14 medals made up of 11 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze.

Hungary follow with 6 gold and 1 bronze. India are third with 2 gold and three silver. Next for Ghana today will be Abeiku Jackson who will be swimming in lane two in heat five of the 50m butterfly event at 10Hrs GMT.