Sport Awards of the Year 2019 |30 January 2020
The 10 female finalists
Tomorrow will be the official crowning ceremony of the best athletes for the year 2019 and Sports NATION brings you the 10 female finalists who will be competing for the top prize.
The ceremony will take place at the NSC Multipurpose Hall, Roche Caïman.
Natacha Chetty – Athletics
Youngster Natacha Chetty had a brilliant season in 2019, especially when competing in international competitions. At the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) in Mauritius, Chetty won two gold medals, precisely in long jump and high jump.
In long jump, Chetty leaped a best distance of 6.04m, while in high jump, she clinched the gold medal after clearing the bar at 1.70m.
She also competed at the African Junior Championship for the Under-18 and the Under-20 held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in April where she won a silver medal in high jump with a performance of 1.77m.
Untouchable locally in 2019, Chetty won the gold medals in both high jump and long jump at the National Championship. She also claimed the high jump gold medal at the 43rd National Inter-Schools Athletics Championships.
Allisen Camille – Badminton
Reigning Sportswoman of the Year Allisen Camille faced tough competition in 2019, especially at the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) in Mauritius where she managed to bring home two medals – a silver and a bronze.
She won the silver medal after losing the women’s singles final against Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq of Maldives, while her bronze medal came in the women’s doubles where she paired up with Danielle Jupiter.
The local duo lost in the semifinal against the Mauritian pair of Aurelie Allet and Kobita Dookhee.
Locally, she performed at the annual Seychelles-India Tournament where she won the women’s singles and doubles, while finishing as runners-up in the mixed doubles event.
Mastura Shah-Faure – Karate
Three international gold medals in 2019 lifted Mastura Shah-Faure to the top of the women’s karateka ranking for the year.
At the World Tang Soo Do Association Region 14 African Championship, she won two gold medals in open hand hyung and hyung with weapon. At the World Tang Soo Do Association Region 11 European Championship, she claimed one gold medal in open hand hyung, one silver medal in hyung with weapon and one bronze medal in sparring.
Lindy Bedier – Karate
Lindy Bedier’s main exploit in 2019 was winning two medals – one silver and one bronze – at the World Tang Soo Do Association Region 11 European Championship held in the Netherlands in October.
Also a top-10 finalist in 2018, Lindy contributed to the Northern Tang Soo Do team’s 32-medal harvest at the championship which was 10 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze.
Felicity Passon – Swimming
Nicknamed the ‘Golden Girl’, swimmer Felicity Passon was a dominant force in the pools at both regional and continental levels in 2019.
Firstly at the 10th Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) held in Mauritius in July, Passon won 11 medals – seven gold, three silver (one individual and two in relays) and one bronze – while at the 12th African Games in Rabat, Morocco in August, she won four other medals, namely two gold, a silver and a bronze.
The exploit made her the first Seychellois swimmer to win a gold medal at the African Games.
Her two gold medals came in the 100m backstroke where she clocked 1 minute 02.42 seconds (1:02.42) and in the 200m backstroke in 2:14.55.
Her silver medal came in the 50m backstroke in a time of 29.17 seconds, while her bronze medal came in the 100m butterfly in 1:00.61.
She also competed in the 18th Fina World Swimming Championship.
Sofie Frichot – Swimming
Australia-based Sofie Frichot made her first appearance for Seychelles last year during the second leg of the women’s Marathon Swim World Series (MSWS) held at the Beau Vallon beach.
She was Seychelles’ only female representative at the event and completed the 10km race in 2 hours 30 minutes 29.9 seconds to be ranked 31st overall.
She also took part in the sixth leg of the competition in Gwangju, South Korea where she finished 60th overall.
Frichot also won a silver medal at the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) held in Mauritius, precisely in the freestyle 4x100m relay where she teamed up with Felicity Passon, Aaliyah Palestrini and Thérèse Soukup. They clocked 4:01.79 to finish second.
Petra Richard – Volleyball
A member of the Cascade team, Petra Richard led them to victory in the Curtain-raiser tournament and Women’s first division league in 2019. They were also the runners-up of the Women’s first division Land Marine Cup and the Seychelles Volleyball federation (SVF) Cup.
Petra also captained the national team at the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) held in Mauritius where they won the gold medal after defeating Madagascar 3-2 in the final.
Angelique Adeline – Volleyball
After switching allegiance from Island Waves to City Ladies in 2019, Angelique Adeline led them to a runner-up finish in the National League behind Cascade.
At International level she was influential in the national team’s performance at the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) held in Mauritius, especially in the final against Madagascar where she spearheaded Seychelles to win the gold medal on a 3-2 score.
Romantha Larue – Weightlifting
Three gold medals at the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) held in Mauritius was the highlight of Romantha Larue’s performance in 2019.
She brought home three gold medals after snatching 65kg and lifting 85kg in clean and jerk for a total of 150kg.
Locally, she competed in the National Championship where she finished first in the 87kg category (75kg in snatch and 100kg in clean and jerk). She also competed at the Open Championship where once again she excelled with 65kg in snatch and 80kg in clean and jerk.
Clementina Agricole – Weightlifting
Clementina Agricole who competes in the 59kg weight category began the 2019 season on a good note, winning the National Open Championship hosted by the Seychelles Weightlifting Federation (SWF). She lifted 63kg in snatch, before bringing up 84kg in clean and jerk for a grand total of 147kg.
Her main exploit was the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) held in Mauritius where she won three gold medals with a grand total of 166kg, after snatching 73kg and lifting 93kg in clean and jerk.
