Junior tennis players Michael Kouame and Raphael Nii Ankrah were involved in a major controversy during an ITF Juniors tournament in Accra, Ghana. 15-year-old Kouame slapped Ankrah at the net after losing to him, sparking a brawl on court.
The Frenchman was the top seed in the competition but his opponent from Ghana won the opening set 6-2. Kouame rallied back to take the second set via a tie-break. The deciding set was tightly contested and once again went into a tie-break. Ankrah held his nerve to take the tie-break and won the match 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(5).
After the match ended, both players approached the net for a customary handshake. But Michael Kouame suddenly lashed out and slapped Ankrah, leaving the young man stunned.
The slap led to an all-out brawl as people started running on to the court and both Kouame and Ankrah continued to argue. No reason has been given behind his outburst but there is a good chance Kouame will be heavily punished by the ITF.
After beating Kouame, Ankrah will square off against compatriot Ishmael Nii Nortey Dowuona in the second round of the tournament. The Ghanaian is also competing in the doubles event of the J5 Accra with Lameck Bagerbaseh as his partner. The duo are seeded third and will take on the French-Italian pair of Mickael Kaouk and Davide Brunetti in the first round.
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Michael Kouame is ranked No. 606 in the ITF Junior rankings
Kouame, who is ranked No. 606 in the ITF Junior rankings, was the top seed in the J5 Accra tournament. Ankrah, on the other hand, is ranked far below him at No. 1,708.
Michael Kouame has won nine out of 14 matches in the 2022 season so far. The 15-year-old started the year by reaching the semifinals of the J4 Kigali, where he lost to India’s Pranav Karthik.
He then reached the quarterfinals of the J4 Kigali before losing to Hady El Kordy. Kouame suffered a second-round exit at the J5 Colomiers before getting to the semifinals of the J5 Blagnac by beating Gianmaria Migliardi, Bogdan Desy and Raphael Picot. However, he was defeated by Italy’s Lorenzo Carboni in three sets.
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Kouame has also competed in a few doubles tournaments this season, with his best result being a quarter-final run at the J4 Kigali. The Frenchman’s last doubles competition was the J5 Blagnac last month where he partnered Bogdan Desy. The pair lost to the Italian duo of Lorenzo Carboni and Gianluca Carlini.
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