All Africa Championships: Egypt clinch gold, SA finish third
Mauritus won the first two matches but Egypt munted a fight back, winning the remain three games to clinch the title.
Egypt was crowned the mixed badminton team champions at the All Africa Senior Champions after beating Mauritius 3-2 in a nail-biting final at John Barrable Hall on February 16.
The Mauritians raced to a 2-0 in the match but the Egyptians won the last three games to clinch the gold medal.
In the first match, the team of Jean Bernard Bongout and Kobita Dookhee beat the top-ranked Adham Hatem Elgamal and Doha Hany 21:14 and 21:17 in mixed doubles.
Georges Julien Paul made it two for Mauritius when he beat Ahmed Salah in straight sets in the men’s singles. Paul took the tie 21:11 and 21:17.
Second-ranked Nour Ahmed Youssri pulled one back for Egypt when she beat Ludik Kate 21:7 and 21:17 in the women’s singles.
The men’s doubles pitted the continent’s two best teams and the match lived up to its hype as the Egyptian pair of Elgamal and Salah mounted a fightback to clinch the tie after losing the first set.
Mauritius’ Bongout and Paul won the first set 21:7 but their opponents came back fighting in the second set.
With the Egyptians cruising at 20:15, Bongout and Paul won five games in a row to tie the game 20 all and send it to a tiebreaker which Elgamal and Salah won to clinch the game 22:20.
Youssri and Hany proved why they are the top-ranked women in Africa when they made light work of Dookhee and Kate, beating the Mauritian duo 21:14 and 21:16 to help their country to a 3-2 win to clinch the continental title.
Another bronze for South Africa
Hosts South Africa lost their semi-final to eventual champions Egypt 3-1 to end up in third place.
Jarred Elliot and Amy Ackerman started well for the South Africans when they defeated the team of Salah and Hany in straight sets in the mixed doubles.
But Elgamal led the fightback for his country when he defeated Robert White in a tight men’s singles encounter.
The Egyptian took the first game 21:19 but White won the next game 21:19 and Elgamal won the rubber game 21:13 to make it one-all.
Youssri beat Johanita Scholtz 21:17 and 21:18 in the women’s singles and Salah and Elgamal made it three for Egypt when they won the men’s doubles.
The players return to the court today for the singles competition which will conclude on Sunday.
Also Read: All Africa Championships: SA march on to last four
Also Read: All Africa Championships: South Africa through to quarter-finals
