A fully packed Archbishop Akwasi Sarpong Hall at the St Louis Senior High School gave Armwrestling enthusiasts a good and quality time at the last regional qualifier for the HD+ Kids Armwrestling Championship in Kumasi.

A crowd of over 1,000 patrons from neighbouring schools and the community filled the venue to catch a glimpse of what organisers described as the beginning of the youth development programme for the Ghana Armwrestling Federation (GAF).

About 120 school children between the ages of 12 and 16 signed up for the challenge to battle for one of the 15 available slots in Ashanti region to represent the region at the national championships.

In the men's heavyweight division, all three winners were from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Senior High School (SHS).

Adams Atidana Oliver won gold while Ofori Appiah Joel and Samuel Owusu won silver and bronze, respectively.

The men middleweight category saw Tabiri Maxwell from Kumasi Academy win gold while Sani Abubakar from Asem Junior High School (JHS) and Roonie Frimpong from Asaego JHS won silver and bronze.

Bernard Nyarko from Asem JHS grabbed the lightweight division gold while Robert Bright Bambil from Werewereso JHS won bronze.

Exciting and grueling battles were witnessed in the female categories where talents were identified by the technical team of GAF.

Mariam Abdul Mumin from Asem Islamic won the female lightweight division followed by Felicia Sarbour from KNUST SHS while Sandra Kalibi from New Amakom JHS won bronze.

The heavyweight division had Mary-Ann Abagade from St Louis SHS wining gold while Christiana Kinanhog also from St Louis SHS won silver with Doris Amankwaa from Serwaa Nyarko SHS grabbing the bronze medal.

The winners will join others from Accra and Takoradi on October 29 at a yet to be determined venue for the final event.

The HD+ Kids Armwrestling Championship is being powered by the Ghana Armwrestling Federation with support from SES HD Plus Ghana.