Day 5 -Africa in the Men's Football Quarterfinals

Moussa Konate of Senegal

Africa’s performance on the 5^th day of the Olympics didn’t hold much excitement except in the Men’s Football Tournament, where the Senegalese team had a 1:1 draw with the United Arab Emirates. They now have a sure ticket to the quarterfinals where they will face Mexico. Gabon and Morocco however did not make it through, but Egypt will meet Japan.

Cote d’Ivoire’s Rene Phillip Kouassi couldn’t make it past the 1/32 Eliminations of the Men’s Individual Event in the Archery Tournament, after he lost to Gael Prevost of France. Nada Kamel of Egypt didn’t fare well either in the Women’s Individual event, as she also crashed out in the first round of 32.

The duo of M. Edwards and A. Viljoen of South Africa were defeated by their Russian counterparts in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Doubles event of the Badminton Tournament.

In the Women’s Basketball, Angola suffered another defeat as they lost 52:76 to China in the preliminary round of Group A, thus ending their participation in the Basketball Tournament.

After three winless matches, South Africa will also not be proceeding to the quarterfinals in the Men’s Beach Volley Ball Tournament.

Africa’s hopes in the Boxing Tournament seem to be increasing. Amine Mohamed Ouadahi of Algeria qualified for the quarterfinals after beating William Alcantara Encarnacion of Dominican Republic in the Round of 16 in the Men’s Bantam Category. Also moving on to the quarterfinals is Mohammed Arjaoui in the Men’s Super Heavy Category.

In the Men’s Individual Epee of the Fencing Tournament, Abdelkarim El Haouri of Morocco and Ayman Fayez of Egypt lost out in the Round of 32, while Alexandre Bouzaid of Senegal lost out in the Round of 16.

The Women’s Individual Sabre event saw Melissa Lea Moutoussamy of Algeria losing in the Round of 32.

In the Women’s Handball Preliminaries, Angola lost to Montenegro, 25-30. They are currently 5^th in Group A.

The South African Men’s Hockey team drew with Great Britain, 2:2 in the preliminary round of Group A, where they occupy the 5^th position with only 1 point.

The Algerian Women’s Volleyball team suffered a 0:3 loss to Russia in the Preliminary Round of Group A. Their next match will be against Italy.

Africa didn’t lift any medals in the 77kg category of the Men’s Weightlifting Tournament, but Ibrahim Ibrahim Ramadan of Egypt ranked 5^th, while Felix Ekpo of Nigeria ranked 8^th.

Africa’s representatives in the Men’s 90kg of the Judo Tournament did not get past the Elimination Round of 32, the same obtained in the Women’s 70kg category.

The main attraction today is probably the match between Nigeria and USA in the Men’s Basketball Tournament.

We’ll also be looking to see if Ahmed Mejri of Tunisia can make it to the quarterfinals of the Men’s Light category in the Boxing Tournament. Mujandjae Kasuto of Namibia and Rahou Abdelmalek are also billed to compete in today’s Men’s Middle Round of 16.