Ninth All-Africa Games in Algiers-Badminton |20 July 2007
A win against the Nigerians in the final, will mean a gold medal for Seychelles and in the event of a defeat, the mixed doubles duo will have to settle for the second position and the silver medal.
In yesterday morning's semifinal, Seychelles' star mixed pair of Cupidon and Ah-Wan
defeated the South African duo of Rudolf Dednam and Kerry Lee Harrington 2-1 (21-17, 19-21, 21-13).
In the ladies' singles, Catherina Paulin won a bronze medal yesterday after losing her
semifinal clash 0-2 (14-21, 24-22) to South African Michelle Edwards who had beaten Juliette Ah-Wan in the quarterfinals the day before.
Paulin, who was transported to hospital with a knee injury immediately after the semifinal showdown, beat Nigerian G. Gabriel 2-0, Egyptian Hosny Hadia 2-0 and South African Lee Harington 2-0 in her first three matches.
Meanwhile, the country's two other mixed doubles pairs were eliminated in the second round.
Steve Malcouzane and Catherina Paulin fe
before losing 0-2 to Algerians A Boudaoui and K. Rezig.
In the men's doubles, Cupidon and Malcouzane lost 0-2 to the South African duo of W. Viljoen and Dorian James after beating the Algerian duo of Betahar and
Mahlous in the earlier round.
As for Jumaye, he teamed up with Zambian E. Edwards but lost 0-2 to A. Zeradine and K. Rezig of Algeria in the second round.
The women's doubles team of Ah-Wan and Paulin defeated the Algerian pair of M. Menasri and A. Boudaoui 2-0 in their first match before falling 0-2 to Grace Daniel and J. Ideh of Nigeria in the quarterfinals.
Cynthia Course teamed up with Zambian Olga Giamupangilao to beat Mauritians Kate Foo-Kune and D. Bailache 2-0 and in the quarterfinals, they fell 0-2 to South Africa's Chantal Botts and Michelle Edwards.
In the men's singles, Malcouzane won a bye then defeated Algerian F. Betahar 2-0, only to lose 0-2 to Nigerian J. Ifraimu in the quarterfinals.
Jumaye whitewashed Mauritian Sahir Edoo 2-0 in his first match before losing 0-2 to Algerian and African champion Zeradine in the second round.
Back to the ladies' singles, Cynthia Course walked over A. Hocine of Algeria and then met African ladies' singles champion Grace Daniel of Nigeria. She lost 0-2 (7-21, 8-21).
Local number one female player Ah-Wan whitewashed Mauritian Kate Foo-Kune 2-0 (21-8, 21-12) in her first match to meet Algerian A. Boudaoui whom she beat 2-0.
A two-time former African ladies' singles champion, Ah-Wan was denied a place in the semifinal when she lost 0-2 to South African Michelle Edwards.