Return of badminton players and weightlifters from African championships-Triumphant return for African junior champions |14 August 2009

As the Kenya Airways KQ450 flight from Nairobi touched down at Seychelles International Airport, Pointe Larue, just before 1pm, Community Development, Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Vincent Meriton, National Sports Council chief executive Alain Volcère and other high sports officials were eager to welcome and congratulate the African junior champions and senior lifters who also won medals.

Mr Meriton presented badminton women’s singles champion Alisen Camille and three-time weightlifting 48kg gold medallist Katsia Télémaque with bouquets of flowers. The rest of the weightlifting and badminton teams also received flowers.

Shuttler Camille, 17, was crowned women’s singles champion after three days of fierce competition at the 9th All-Africa Junior Badminton Championship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She did not drop a single set in five matches, opening her campaign with a 2-0 (21-9, 21-12) first-round win over Sudanese Sharaf Yathrib before defeating Bitumelo MPipi from Botswana 2-0 (21-7, 21-8) in a second-round fixture.

In the quarterfinal against Ugandan top seed Shamim Bangi, she won 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) to set up a semifinal encounter with Mauritian Yeldi Louison, whom she beat 2-0 (21-19, 23-21).

In the final she was up against Mauritian Kate Foo Kune and won 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) to capture the gold medal.

The four-member weightlifting team returned from competing in the African Weightlifting Championships in Kampala, Uganda, with 11 medals – three gold in the women’s 48kg junior division, four silver and four bronzes in the senior weight categories.

Télémaque, 20, made a clean sweep of the gold medals in the women’s junior 48kg category with new record lifts of 63kg (snatch) and 73kg (clean & jerk) for an Olympic total of 136kg.

Her snatch performance also earned her a silver medal in the senior category.

Three-time former Sportswoman of the Year Janet Thélermont snatched 82kg to win the women’s senior 63kg division silver medal and finished with 95kg in the clean-and-jerk to grab the bronze medal. She also took a bronze with an Olympic total of 177kg.

Clementina Agricole snatched a new Seychelles record of 78kg – 5kg more than her previous best – to win the silver medal in the women’s senior 53kg category.

She then equalled her Seychelles clean & jerk record of 92kg to win a bronze medal to finish with an Olympic total of 170kg to earn the silver medal and a new Seychelles record.

Charles Siméon clinched a bronze medal in the men’s 77kg category when he clean & jerked 150kg after having snatched 110kg for an Olympic total of 260kg.

What the African champions said:

Badminton women’s singles champion Alisen Camille
“The hard work in training has paid off and I’m happy to be the African women’s singles junior champion. But it wasn’t an easy task to reach this far.

“Most of the matches were tough, especially the semifinal against Mauritian Yeldi Louison. Winning against Louison and Kate Foo Kune provided me with the opportunity to avenge last year’s Jeux de la Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de l’Océan Indien defeats against both of them.”

Three-time weightlifting 48kg gold medallist Katsia Télémaque

“A knee injury did not prevent me from competing and I’m proud of making a clean sweep of the gold medals in the junior category. Had I been 100% fit, I would have done much better in the senior category, which did not look that tough. I’m happy with what I’ve achieved.”

G. G.