All Africa Championships: Doubles teams win gold for SA
South Africa won seven medals to end up in pole position in the overall standings.
The women and men’s doubles teams of Amy Ackerman and Deidrè Laurens Jordaan and Jarred Elliot and Robert Summers claimed South Africa’s two gold medals in the singles events at the All Africa Senior Championships at John Barrable Hall on February 19.
This achievement elevated the hosts to top position in the medals charts with two golds, one silver and four bronzes.
In the women’s doubles, Ackerman and Jordaan claimed a straight sets win against the Algerian pair of Yasmina Chibah and Linda Mazri.
The South Africans, who are ranked second on the continent, took the match 21:19 and 21:12.
After narrowly missing out on the gold in Uganda last year, it was a welcome relief for the pair who have been on the road since last year, preparing for the Road to Paris programme.
“I don’t think any words can express how we feel. We’ve been working hard for this. Last year we fell short. Being here again and this time pulling through, I have no words,” said Jordaan.
The men’s doubles final saw the continent’s second and third best teams go hammer and tongs as South Africa’s Elliott and Summers took on Algeria’s Adel Hamek and Mohammed Belarbi.
The match lived up to its expectation with clean strokes, constant attacking and chemistry from both set of players.
The South Africans’ combination and understanding of each other proved too much for the Algerians in the first set.
After some back and forth early on, Elliott and Summers took control and eventually won the set 21:13.
The second set saw a game of cat and mouse as Hamek and Belarbi fought their way back into the tie.
With the scores tied at 4-all, Elliott and Summers won 10 points on the trot but the Algerians’ relentless attacking saw them almost take the match into a third set.
Behind by six points, Hamek and Belarbi won five points to take the score to 18:17 but Elliott and Summers’ game awareness, good communication and court movement saw them win the remaining games to clinch the set 21:17 and take home the gold medal.
Meanwhile, Johanita Scholtz finished second in the women’s singles final after losing to Uganda’s Fadilah Shamika, who came back from a set down to win the match and clinch Uganda’s only gold medal in the competition.
Summers (men’s singles), Robert White and Jordaan and Elliott and Ackerman (mixed doubles) finished in third place.
The Eastern Gauteng Badminton Association thanked the City of Ekurhuleni for assisting in making the event a success.
“We want to thank Mayor Tania Campbell and her team for assisting us to make the competition successful.
Badminton Confederation Africa was pleased with the venue and the back-up systems provided to meet the challenges of load-shedding and water-shedding.”
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