Tag: African Fencing Championships

Egypt top medals’ table 

Nigeria’s women’s epee team celebrated a historic milestone at the 23^rd  African Fencing Championships, securing their first-ever win in the competition to finish in the top five.

 The five-day tournament, hosted at Charterhouse, Lagos, concluded with Egypt emerging as the overall champion, amassing the highest number of gold medals.

After a quarterfinal loss to Algeria, the Nigerian team—comprising Somtochukwu Eribenne, Sara Idongesit, and Adebodunirin Thomas—rallied to end their campaign on a high. In the classification match for fifth place, they displayed resilience and teamwork to defeat the Benin Republic 45-40, giving the home crowd something to cheer about.

An elated Thomas described the victory as a morale booster: “We are excited to win our first game and also finish in the top five in the event. We worked together as a team, and our coach helped us to put up a good fight against our opponents. This will surely help our confidence going into the next competition.”

However, Egypt continued its dominance in the men’s team foil, defeating Angola in a one-sided final. The Egyptian team—featuring 2025 men’s foil champion Abdelrahman Tolba, Karim Medhat, Mohamed Hamza, and Sief Elghayesh—cruised past Nigeria 45-9 in the semifinals before overpowering Angola 45-23 in the final.

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Angola, led by Tomas Pedro, Valter Barros, Francisco Manuel, and Luis Macedo, earned their place in the final after a dramatic 45-44 win over Algeria in the semifinals. Despite a strong start by Algeria, Angola mounted a spirited comeback to secure a narrow victory and their first podium finish.

In the women’s team epee final, Egypt was awarded the gold medal after the match against Algeria was halted at 6-6. Algeria refused to continue, resulting in a P. Black decision in Egypt’s favour.

Egypt also triumphed in the women’s team sabre, where Alanoud Hegazy, Nada Hafez, Nagwa Nofal, and Renad Eldoksh led the team to a 45-40 victory over Algeria, adding another gold to their tally.

Meanwhile, Egypt topped the overall medal table with an impressive haul of 11 gold, 5 silver, and 5 bronze medals. Kenya followed in second place with one gold, while Tunisia secured third with two silver and two bronze medals. Algeria finished fourth with one silver and six bronze medals. Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa each claimed one silver and one bronze, while Angola earned one silver. Morocco, Cape Verde, and Senegal each took home one bronze medal.

The five-day, 12-event tournament, hosted by the Nigeria Fencing Federation at Charterhouse, Lagos, featured over 120 fencers from 18 countries.

 Egypt continued its dominance at the 23rd African Fencing Championships, claiming five of the six individual gold medals on offer at the event held at Charterhouse, Lagos, Nigeria.

The only interruption to Egypt’s clean sweep came from Kenya’s Alexandra Ndolo, who delivered a commanding performance to defeat Egypt’s Shirwit Gaber 15-8 in the final of the women’s épée.

On Friday, June 27, Egypt added two more titles to its tally, with Abdelrahman Tolba and Alanoud Hegazy capturing gold in the men’s foil and women’s sabre events, respectively. These victories followed three earlier gold medals secured by the Egyptian team on the first two days of the championships.

Tolba, who had previously won bronze in 2023 and silver in 2024, completed his ascent to the top of the podium with a 15-10 win over defending champion Mohamed Hamza in the men’s foil final. He had earlier cruised past Cape Verde’s Victor Alvares 15-4 in the semifinal.

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Reflecting on his journey, Tolba said, “It feels great to finally win gold. This shows that hard work pays off—starting with bronze in 2023, then silver in 2024, and now gold. I’m so happy, though it wasn’t easy facing my teammate in the final.”

In the women’s sabre, Hegazy claimed her first continental title with a 15-8 victory over 2024 bronze medallist Nada Hafez. Her path to the final included a 15-10 quarterfinal win over defending champion Lorina Essomba of Cameroon and a 15-9 semifinal triumph against Algeria’s Chaima Benadouda.

“I feel great and proud to win my first continental title at any level,” Hegazy said. “This is a big moment for me, and I hope to keep performing well in major competitions like this.”

The team events, which begin on Saturday, June 28 to 29, with all eyes on the Egyptian side as the defending champions.

Egypt’s Ahmed Hesham made a sensational debut at the African Senior Fencing Championships, capturing gold in the individual men’s sabre event, while Kenya’s Alexandra Ndolo successfully defended her women’s epee title yesterday  at the Charterhouse in Lagos.

Competing in his first senior continental championship, Hesham stunned the field with a composed and commanding performance, culminating in a 15-11 victory over compatriot and 2024 Olympic silver medallist Adham Moataz in the final.

The bout began with Hesham taking an early lead, only for Moataz to level the score at 4-4. But the debutant quickly regained control, pulling away with a flurry of precise attacks to seal the win 15-7. His triumphant roar at the end of the match underscored the significance of the moment.

 “It was very hard because I faced a lot of tough opponents on the way to the final,” Hesham said. “Of course, my teammate in the final was an experienced fencer. I’m proud of this moment—it’s my first African Senior Championships, and I came out with gold. I’m happy with my efforts today.”

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In the women’s epee, Kenya’s Alexandra Ndolo reaffirmed her dominance on the continent with a gritty title defence against Egypt’s Shirwit Gaber with a 15-8 win in the final.

From the preliminary rounds, Ndolo was in imperious form, dispatching her opponents with ease. However, her semifinal clash against Côte d’Ivoire’s Oceane Tahe proved to be her toughest test.

Ndolo led for most of the bout, at one point holding a 13-10 advantage. But Tahe mounted a late comeback, levelling the score at 14-14. In a tense final exchange, Ndolo secured the decisive point to win 15-14 and book her place in the final.

 “She’s one of the rising stars in African fencing,” Ndolo said of her opponent. “It was a tough match, but I’m glad I held on.”

Ndolo’s consistency and composure throughout the tournament once again highlighted her status as one of Africa’s premier fencers.