by Ian Marshall, Editor
In the under 21 men’s singles second round he beat Egypt’s Omar El-Hamady, the no.2 seed (12-10, 11-13, 11-6, 6-11, 18-16, 12-10), prior to overcoming Congo Brazzaville’s Michel Lignandzi (14-12, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6) to reserve his quarter-final place.
Similarly, in the second round of the junior boys’ singles event he upset matters, he accounted for the no.2 seed, Algeria’s Abdelbasset Chaichi (11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-8) to keep hopes of an unexpected podium finish alive.
Otherwise, for the top names it was progress to the quarter-final round and in the under 21 men’s singles competition better news for Abdelbasset Chaichi; alongside colleague Azzeddine Lazazi and Egypt’s Mahmoud Helmy, he booked a last eight place.
Egyptian hopes alive, it proved very much the same scenario in the junior boys’ singles competition; leading names, Ahmed El-Borhamy and Marwan Abdelwahab duly advanced to the later stages as did Tunisia’s Youssef Ben Attia, the top seed.
The quarter-finalists decided, in the cadet boys’ singles event the semi-finalists are known, in the junior boys’ doubles, the finalists; the name to note being Nigeria’s Jamiu Ayanwale. In the junior boys’ doubles final, in partnership with colleague Azeez Solanke, the pair confronts Marwan Abdelwahab and Egyptian colleague, Gawad El-Herazy. Meanwhile, in the cadet boys’ singles semi-finals, Jamiu Ayanwale faces Tunisia’s Habib Ameur; also from Nigeria’s Taiwo Mati meets Egypt’s Mohamed Sameh.
Play in Accra concludes on Saturday 13th April.
2019 Africa Youth, Junior and Cadet Championships: Newsletter No.7 (Friday 12th April)
