Sports Awards of the Year 2009-Leveau-Agricole retains title, Malcouzane best male |30 January 2010

Her past wins came in 1996, 2005 and 2008.
Steve Malcouzane wins the Sportsman of the Year title for the first time and is the second badminton player after Georgie Cupidon (2006 and 2007) to grab the coveted title.
Seychelles Nation presents short profiles of the top five chosen from the finalists in both the female and male categories.

Badminton player Steve Malcouzane – Sportsman of the Year

Local competitions:
Men’s singles and mixed doubles winner of the Curtain-raiser tournament;
Men’s doubles runner-up of the Curtain-raiser tournament;
Men’s singles winner of the Knockout tournament;
Mixed doubles and men’s doubles runner-up of the Knockout tournament.

International competitions:
Team event silver medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Men’s singles bronze medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Men’s doubles bronze medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya.

Steve Malcouzane took over as male number one badminton player in 2009 and this is his first Sportsman of the Year title win. He was the men’s singles and men’s doubles bronze medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya and propelled the Seychelles team to a silver medal finish in the team event.
He was third overall in the 2007 crowning and dropped to fourth place in 2008.

Badminton player Georgie Cupidon – runner-up

Local competitions:
Men’s doubles winner of the Curtain-raiser tournament;
Men’s singles and mixed doubles runner-up in the Curtain-raiser tournament;
Mixed doubles and men’s doubles winner of the Knockout tournament;
Men’s singles runner-up in the Knockout tournament;

International competitions:
Team event silver medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Mixed doubles silver medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Men’s doubles bronze medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Mixed doubles silver medallist at the Mauritius Open.

Twice Sportsman of the Year, in 2006 and 2007, Georgie Cupidon has improved from third place in 2008 to runner-up this time.

Canoeist Tony Lespoir – third place finisher

Local competitions:
First out of six competitors in the K1 200m races;
First out of six competitors in the K1 500m races;
First out of six competitors in the K1 1,000m races.

International competitions:
K1 200m bronze medallist at the Cac sixth flatwater African Canoe-Kayak Championships at Cocody Bay in the Plateau area of Abidjan, Ivory Coast;
K1 500m bronze medallist at the Cac sixth flatwater African Canoe-Kayak Championships at Cocody Bay in the Plateau area of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Chosen as male canoeist for a 14th straight year at the end of 2009, Tony Lespoir, 33, has not been able to retain the Sportsman of the Year title.

Weightlifter Charles Siméon – fourth place

Local competitions:
National Open Championship 77kg category winner with an Olympic total of 240kg;
National Championship 77kg category winner with an Olympic total of 270kg and he also improved the clean & jerk record to 158kg.

International competitions:
Clean & jerk bronze medallist with 150kg to be ranked fifth with an Olympic total of 260kg in the men’s senior 77kg category of the African Weightlifting Championships in Kampala, Uganda.

Runner-up to Sportsmen of the Year Allan Julie and Georgie Cupidon in 2005 and 2006, Siméon finishes fourth this time.

Bodybuilder Ziad Al Adou Mekdachi – fifth place

Local competitions:
Winner of the Seychelles Amateur Bodybuilding Association (Sabba) Open;
Winner of the Mr Regatta title;
Winner of the Mr Seychelles title.

International competitions:
Ranked fifth in the heavyweight (under-100kg) category of the inaugural world amateur men's bodybuilding championships in Dubai.

With incredible cuts and striations in his ripped and polished physique, muscleman Ziad Al Adou Mekdachi took the bodybuilding stage by storm in 2009 and had a successful first season as a bodybuilder to finish fifth overall.

Athlete Lindy Leveau-Agricole – Sportswoman of the Year

Local competitions:
Won the javelin event of the Youth/Junior championship;
Won the javelin and shot put events of the National Athletics Championship.

International competitions:
Javelin gold medallist at the sixth Jeux de la Francophonie in Lebanon with a Games record throw of 57.48m;
Javelin gold medallist with a throw of 51.48m at the Southern Region Senior Athletics Championship in Gaborone, Botswana.

Leveau-Agricole is the first female athlete to win the title a fourth time, putting her in a league of her own.
A nine-time senior female athlete of the year title winner – in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009 – Leveau-Agricole was crowned Sportswoman of the Year in 1996, 2005 and 2008.
She was the runner-up to Sportswoman of the Year 1998 Yvonne Legaie, third in 2007 and fifth in 2002.

Weightlifter Clementina Agricole – runner-up

Local competitions:
Competed in the National Open Championship and finished with an Olympic total of 163kg in the 53kg division.

International competitions:
Women’s senior 53kg category gold medallist with an Olympic total of 177kg (77kg in snatch and 100kg in clean & jerk) at the Commonwealth Championship in Penang, Malaysia;
Won the UESAKA International Club Tournament 53kg category bronze medal;
Snatch silver medallist with 78kg in the senior 53kg category of the African Weightlifting Championships in Kampala, Uganda;
Clean & jerk bronze medallist with 92kg in the senior 53kg category of the African Weightlifting Championships in Kampala, Uganda;
Women’s senior 53kg category silver medallist with an Olympic total of 170kg at the African Weightlifting Championships in Kampala, Uganda.

This is 21-year-old Agricole’s best result in the annual Sports Awards of the Year crowning ceremony.

Badminton player Juliette Ah-Wan – third place

Local competitions:
Women’s doubles winner of the Curtain-raiser tournament;
Women’s singles runner-up in the Curtain-raiser tournament;
Women’s singles and women’s doubles winner of the Knockout tournament;
Mixed doubles runner-up in the Knockout tournament,

International competitions:
Women’s singles gold medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Mixed doubles silver medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Women’s doubles bronze medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Team event silver medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Women’s doubles gold medallist at the Mauritius Open;
Mixed doubles silver medallist at the Mauritius Open;
Women’s singles silver medallist at the Mauritius Open.

Twice Sportswoman of the Year, in 2000 and 2007, Ah-Wan has finished third this time. Runner-up to Sportswomen of the Year Sophia Vandagne in 1999 and Janet Thélermont in 2002, she also finished third in 2006 and was fourth overall in 2003 and 2004.

Weightlifter Katsia Télémaque – fourth place

Local competitions:
Competed in the national Open Championship and finished with an Olympic total of 139kg in the 48kg category;
Took part in the National Championship and finished with an Olympic total of 141kg in the 48kg category.

International competitions:
Women’s junior 48kg category bronze medallist with an Olympic total of 138kg at the Commonwealth Championship in Penang, Malaysia;
Fourth in the women’s senior 48kg category with an Olympic total of 138kg at the Commonwealth Championship in Penang, Malaysia;
Three-time gold medallist in the junior 48kg category of the African Weightlifting Championships in Kampala, Uganda;
Snatch bronze medallist in the senior 48kg category of the African Weightlifting Championships in Kampala, Uganda;
Fourth overall in the senior 48kg category of the African Weightlifting Championships in Kampala, Uganda.

Featuring in the top five for the first time, Télémaque, 20, has been ranked fourth overall.

Katherina Paulin – fifth place

Local competitions:
Women’s singles winner of the Curtain-raiser tournament;
Women’s doubles runner-up in the Curtain-raiser tournament;
Women’s singles and women’s doubles runner-up in the Knockout tournament;

International competitions:
Women’s singles bronze medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Women’s doubles bronze medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya;
Team event silver medallist at the 11th African Senior Badminton Championships in Kenya.

Paulin, 22, played well in 2009 and her effort has earned her fifth place overall.

Compiled by G. G.