Ghana’s 2-time medalist Abdul Wahid Omar suffers a unanimous 0-5 defeat to Patris Mughalzai of England in the men’s 65 kg round of 32 boxing competition at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

That meant Ghana’s campaign in boxing and para powerlifting at the Games got off to a disappointing start as Ghana’s top para powerlifter Tahiru Haruna also finished 5th, as both tournaments ended on Day One.

In the country’s first fight of the competition, 32-year-old Omar came in riding a wave of confidence after receiving his medal bonus of US$3,000 from Sports Minister Kofi Iddie Adams for his bronze feat in the same Glasgow 12 years ago.

But the experienced fighter came unstuck against the Russian-born English slugger in the light welterweight cliffhanger at the SEC Hall in Glasgow, as he lost all three rounds to crash out of the competition at the beginning.

The 2016 Olympian only won one round on just one of five scorecards in rounds one and two, but worse was to come in the third and final stanza when he was caught by a savage right hook from Mughalzai, 24, which sent the Ghanaian crashing to the canvas.

Omar’s misery was complete when he was further deducted a point in the round, leaving little doubt about the result as the English boxer was declared a comfortable unanimous decision winner, 29-28, 30-26, 30-27, 30-26, 30-26.

Ghana now has nine boxers left in the competition, with the country pinning most of its medal hopes on the Black Bombers and Hitters at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Three boxers, Amadu Mohammed, Nancy Bamfo and Adelaide Dede Djabatey, are next in action in the round of 16 on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Africa’s number one and 2024 Olympian Haruna could only finish 5th in the para powerlifting heavyweight (over 110 kg) competition after averaging 112.0 points total over three lifts.

Nigeria’s Riluwan Idris came first with 132.8 points, second went to Matthew Harding of England with 131.0 points, while Nicodemus Manggoi Moses of Malaysia took the bronze with 120.3 points.