African Judo Championship: 5 new medals for Algeria – Horizons

The Algerian selection (men/women) of judo gleaned five new medals, including two gold, during the second day of the senior African championships, played on Friday at the “Mohamed-Benahmed” Convention Center in Oran.

Belkadi Amina, under 63 kg and Driss Messaoud Redouane under 73 kg, won the two Algerian gold medals, while Bellakehal Souad (+70 kg) and Zourdani Houd (-73 kg) settled for the silver medal, after their defeat in the final of their respective categories, ahead of the Tunisians Landalsi Nahil and Zourdani Houd. For his part, Benazoug Aghiles Imad settled for bronze, against Kalonga Cedrick, from the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the end of this 2^e day, the national team has a total of 8 medals: 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze, which allows it to easily occupy the first place in the general classification of individual events.

In addition, the official opening ceremony of these African games took place this Friday in the presence of the President of the African Judo Union (AJU), Siteny Thierry Randrianasoloniaiko and members of the Executive Committee of the African Judo Union. and the Algerian federation of this discipline as well as the wali of Oran. During the first day, disputed on Thursday, the Algerian judokas managed to win three medals, two of which were gold, the work of Faïza Aissahine (-48 kg) and Halata Yamina (-52 kg). Their teammate Imene Rezzoug was content with the bronze medal (-48 kg), as did Billel Yagoubi (-60 kg) in the men’s category.

According to the national technical director, Samir Sbâa, the objective of the Algerian participation is to improve the results of the national team compared to the previous edition, during which it won three gold medals. The objective is also to prepare a new generation of judokas who will compose the workforce of the Greens for the next challenges, in particular the Olympic Games of 2024 and 2028. This 43^th African judo championship, organized from May 26 to 29 in Oran, recorded the participation of 175 judokas from 23 African countries. The Algerian national team participates with 18 judokas including 9 ladies. This African sporting event will end on Sunday with the mixed team fighting events.