The day after the inauguration of the Tokyo Olympics, the African athletes experienced various fortunes involved on Saturday. In boxing, they took convincing first steps. And the Tunisian Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi has picked up a silver medal in taekwondo. In other sports and disciplines it was more complicated.
BOXING
Cameroonian Albert Mengue Ayissi climbed to the quarterfinals under 69 kilos (welterweight). The 22-year-old boxer won his fight against Eswatinian Thabiso Dlamini after the referee stopped the third round. He will face Irishman Aidan Walsh on Tuesday.
Mauritiusen Merven Clair, gold medalist at the 2019 African Games, and Zambian Stephen Zimba, also qualified for the next round thanks to their victory in points, respectively against Canadian Wyatt Sanford and Samoan Marion Faustino Ah Tong.
Merven Clair meets Jordanian Zeyad Eishaih Hussein Eashash on Tuesday, while Stephen Zimba meets Russian Andrei Zamkovoi.
In the category less than 91 kilos (heavy trucks), Algerian Abdelhafid Benchabla validated his ticket to the quarterfinals by beating Uzbek Sanjar Tursunov (4-1). On Tuesday, he will meet the Russian Muslim Gadzhimagomedov.
Disappointment on the other hand for the Kenyan Nicholas Okoth, beaten in the first round at under 57 kilos (featherweight) by the Mongol Tsendbaatar Erdenebat (3-2). At 38 years old, the African amateur boxing champion in 2017 longed for much better. Very little was played out because two out of five judges named him the winner. In the same category, the Moroccan Mohamed Hamout fell to the Iranian Daniyal Shahbakhsh (5-0).
Among women, in the category less than 57 kilos (featherweight), the Congolese Marcelat Sakobi Matshu was eliminated from the beginning, in the round of 16, by the Filipino Nesthy Petecio (5-0).
TAEKWONDO
Among women, in the category less than 49 kilos, the Moroccan Oumaima El Bouchti, severely beaten by the South Korean Sim (19-10) and the Egyptian Nour Abdel Salam, dominated by a point by Turkish Yildirim (21-20), quit as soon as they go into running.
Among men, the Tunisian Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi won the silver medal after his narrow loss in the final under 58 kilos against Italy’s Vito Dell’Aquila (16-12). He is the first medalist on the African continent in these games and the first Tunisian silver medalist since 1972.
FOOTBALL
Spectacular match from the Zambian women, against China. Quickly led 3-1, Copper Queens turned the tide and led 4-3, to finally allow a rich on goal scoring (4-4). This is Zambia’s first point in its Olympic history. And the hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals are still there.
HANDBALL
Good entry into driving forEgypt’s master team. The Pharaohs, reigning African champions, beat Portugal (37-31), their first opponent in the first round of Group B. Egypt are second in their group before they face Denmark, Olympic champions in title on Monday.
SWIMMING
400 m free, alone the young Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui18 years qualified for the final which was scheduled for Sunday. He reached the eighth and final time in the series (3’45”68). Mozambican Igor Mogne, Botswana James Freeman and Egyptian Marwan Aly Elkamash remained at the bridge.
In the 100 m butterfly, South African Erin Gallagher and Egyptian Farida Osman will not see the semifinals. They finished last in each series.
In the 100 m breaststroke, Malian Sébastien Kouma, the Sudanese Abobakr Abass and the South African Michael Houlie could not qualify for the semifinals. Their course ends as soon as the series.
ROAD CYCLING
Eritrean Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier finished 50th in the race, 10’12 behind Ecuadorian Olympic champion Richard Carapaz. South African Stefan de Bob took 52nd place and Eyrthrean Merhawi Kudus finished 56th. South Africans Ryan Gibbons and Nicholas Dlamini, Algerians Hamza Mansouri and Azzedine Lagab, Burkinabè Paul Daumont and Rwandan Moïse Mugisha did not finish the race.
ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS
The Egyptian Omar Mohammed and the Nigerian Uche Keke did not pass the first qualifying round (floor, pommel horse, rings, arches, parallel bars, horizontal bar).
JUDO
In the 48 kg category, the two African representatives, Malawian Harriet Bonface and South African Geronay Michaela Whitebooi, were eliminated in the first round by Brazilian Chibana and Argentina Pareto.
TENNIS
Egyptian Maiar Sherif, 118th in the world, did not surprise in the first round against Swedish Rebecca Peterson, 59th in the WTA. The 25-year-old fought 7-5, 7-6. Tunisian Ons Jabeur will take part in the competition on Sunday against Spain’s Suarez Navarro.
FENCING
In the saber, the Algerian Arkam Bounabi was beaten by the Japanese Kaito Streets (15-9) in the first round. In the 32nd final, the Tunisian Fares Ferjani lost to Italian Enrico Berrè (15-10), as did Egyptian Mohad Samer to Georgian Sandro Bazdadze (15-10).
On the other hand, still with a saber, Egyptians Mohamed Amer and Ziad Elsissy respectively tamed the American Daryl Homert (15-11) and the Russian – under neutral banner – Veniamin Reshetnikov (15-13) in the round of 16. The next turn was fatal for them. South Korean Sanguk Oh took out Mohamed Amer (15-9). And after Mohab Samer, Sandro Bazdadze was the executioner for Ziad Elssisy (15-12).
In the women’s side épée, Senegalese Ndeye Binta Diongue lost to Chinese Sheng Lin in the épée in the first round (15-6). In the same discipline, the Tunisian Sarra Besbes, she lost a little against Italian Federica Isola (14-12).
WEIGHTLESS
Mauritian Marie Hanitra Roilya Ranaivosoa placed eleventh and last in the category under 49 kg, after lifting 73 kg in the snatch and then 91 kg in clean and tearing (164 kg in total). Chinese Zhihui Hou won the gold medal with a total of 210 kilos, a new Olympic record. Three other contestants failed to rank (failures in the snatch or clean).
TABLE TENNIS
In the men’s draw, it is a zero point on Saturday. Togolese Kokou Dodji Fanny and the Senegalese Ibrahima Diaw fell in the first round to Croatian Andrej Gacina and Singaporean Zhe Yu Clarence Chew respectively. The Tunisian Adam Hmam was no more successful against the Ukrainian Lei Kou. Finally, the Nigerian Olajide Omotayo was beaten by the Portuguese Tiago Apolonia, and the Algerian Larbi Bouriah could not do anything against the Hungarian Bence Majoros.
In the women’s table, Nigerianska Offiong Edem saved the honor by taking out the Hungarian Dora Madarasz (4 sets to 1). The Egyptian Yousra Helmy stops in the first round, beaten by French Jia Nan Yuan (4 sets 0). Tunisia’s Fadwa Garci, Nigerian Olufunke Oshonaike and Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou were also ruled out in the opening round.
In mixed doubles, the only African pair competing, which brings together the Egyptians Omar Assar and Dina Meshreff, came in the first round of the South Koreans Sangsu Lee and Jihee Jeon (4-1).
VOLLEY-BALL
The Tunisian men’s team could not worry about defending Olympic champions Brazil in the Group B opener at the Ariake Arena (25-22, 25-20, 25-15). A defeat far from paralyzing for the Tunisians who have to finish among the top four in their group of six to see the quarter-finals. The double African champions will play their second match against the French team on Monday.
SHOOT
Egyptian Alzahraa Shaban and Algerian Houda Chaabi failed to qualify for the 10-meter rifle final. They placed 38th and 39th out of 50 in the qualifiers. Only the first eight got their ticket to the final, which the Chinese Qian Yang won, the first gold medalist for these games.
In the men’s event, with the pistol at 10 meters, Egyptian Samy Abdel Razek and Tunisian Ala Alothmani finished 31st and 34th qualifying. The final was won by Iranian Javad Foroughi.
ARCHERY
In the mixed team competition, Tunisia (Mohamed Hammed, Rihab Elwalid) and Egypt (Youssof Tolba, Amal Adam) finished in the last two qualifying places.
HOCKEY
Bad luck for the South African elections. The men lost their first playoff (Group B) to Great Britain 3-1. The women were beaten by the Irish (2-0) in Group A. The next match for the men’s team: the Netherlands on Sunday. South Africans, they will challenge Britain on Monday 26 July.
WATER POLO
The South African women’s team lost heavily to Spain for the first match in its history at the Olympic Games (4-29). Following the reigning vice world champions, South Africans will face cheaper Canadian women on Wednesday. They must finish among the top four in their group of five to get their ticket to the quarterfinals.
ROWING
In singles, the Moroccan Sarah Fraincart, the Nigerian Esther Toko, the Ugandan Kathleen Noble, the Togolese Claire Ayivon and the Sudanese Esraa Khogali did not succeed in the repechage round. In the quarterfinals, Sunday, July 25, Namibian Maike Diekmann will be the sole African representative. She qualified for the playoffs on Friday.
Still on the singles scale, on the men’s side, the Ivorian Franck N’Dri and the Beninese Privl Hinkati did not pass the round of repechage either, unlike Zimbabwe’s Peter Purcell-Gilpin. He will be present in the quarterfinals on Sunday, asEgyptian Abdelkhalek Elbana, qualified directly during the playoffs played on Friday.
In the men’s two, the South Africans Luc Daffarn and Jake Green finished last in their qualifying series and will play in repechage on Sunday. The same scenario for Tunisians Nour Elhouda Ettaieb and Khadija Krimi in a light female pair, for Algerians Kamel Aït Daoud and Sid Ali Boudina in a light male pair and for South Africans Lawrence Brittain, Kyle Schoonbee, John Smith and Sandro Torrente in a coax-free four.
BADMINTON
In the women’s doubles, the Egyptian Doha Hany and Hadia Hasny lost to the Japanese Mayu Mastumoto and Wakana Nagahara (2 sets to 0) in the preliminary round (group B). No success in mixed doubles for the Egyptian pair Adham Hatem Elgamal-Doha Hany against the Chinese pair Si Wei Zheng-Ya Qiong Huang (2 sets to 0) in the initial round (group A). The Nigerian double Godwin Olofua-Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori lost to Japanese Yuta Watanabe-Hiroyuki Endo (2 sets to 0) in the preliminary round (Group B).
.
