Seychelles won their first five medals – four silver and one bronze – yesterday, Monday, on the first day of competition at the 12th Indian Ocean Sports and Youth Commission Games in Mauritius.

On the athletics track at the Côte-d’Or sports complex yesterday, Dickson Suzette won the silver medal after finishing second in the men’s 100m final with a time of 11.00 seconds.

The gold medal was won by the young rising star of the Mauritian sprint, Orphee Topize (10.53 seconds, Maurice’s record among the cadets), while Reunionese Matteo Nassibou finished third (11.01 seconds). The other Seychellois who participated in this final, Gaël Barreau, finished seventh and last (11.30 seconds).

The second Seychellois medal, still a silver one, is the work of Livio Lozaique who took second place in the 100m T20 Mentals Disabled race with a time of 12.78 seconds.

Mauritian Julien Ovide won gold with 11.99 seconds and Reunionese Jeremy Maillot finished third (13.49 seconds).

Chloé Joubert also won a silver medal in the women’s triple jump event with a leap of 10m29, 69 centimeters shorter than the jump made by Mauritian Sophie Eleonore (10m98).

The only bronze medal for Seychelles was won by Elisha Dick in the women’s triple jump event (9m64).

Neil Azemia (2 minutes and 07.75 seconds) and Adley Lauricourt (2 minutes and 17.44 seconds) took seventh and eighth places in the men’s 800-meter race won by Reunionnais Thibault Cadarsi (1 minute and 57, 41 seconds) ahead of his compatriot Abel Sauvage (1 minute and 58.45 seconds). Comorian Ben Souldine Abdallah took third place (1 minute and 58.52 seconds).

It should be noted that the members of the Mauritian Athletics Association had to urgently review yesterday’s program after learning that a large part of the Comorian delegation could not go to the competition site. The reason being that the transport service let them down by forgetting to pick them up at their places of accommodation.

The fourth silver medal for Seychelles was won by weightlifter Allison Robert who achieved 66 kilos in the snatch, 89 kilos in the clean and jerk and 155 kilos in the Olympic total at 67 kilos in the competition of weightlifting yesterday in Vacoas.

The gold medal went to Mauritian Ryan Baho who crushed the competition with a performance of 76 kilos in the snatch and 95 kilos in the clean and jerk. His Olympic total was 171 kilos.

Reunionese Maxence Raspail took the bronze medal with 65 kilos in the snatch, 87 kilos in the clean and jerk and 152 kilos in the Olympic total.

In table tennis, the Seychelles team lost its first match of pool A of the mixed team competition yesterday afternoon at the national table tennis center of Beau-Bassin. The final score: 0-2.

Maena André gave the advantage to Mauritians by winning over Seychellois Andriella Payet in girls’ singles in three sets (11-1, 11-1, 11-2). Soham Gooljar sealed the Mauritian victory by defeating Seychellois Terron Dang Kow in boys’ singles in three sets (14-12, 11-3, 12-10).

Today, Tuesday December 6, the Seychelles face Reunion in one of the two semi-finals. The other semi-final will oppose Mauritius to the Comoros.

The match for 3rd place is scheduled for 3 p.m. while the final starts at 4:30 p.m.

In the women’s futsal competition, Seychelles edged hosts Mauritius 4-3, while Reunion shattered Mayotte 9-2.

Kickoff of boxing tournament postponed to Thursday

As for the boxing tournament, it will start on Thursday. The quarter-final stage scheduled for yesterday has been cancelled. Following the withdrawal of Madagascar, the competition will take place with only 22 pugilists divided into 7 tables (6 in men and 1 in women). The islands represented are the Comoros, Reunion, the Seychelles and Mauritius.

According to the program, Thursday’s fights will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the national boxing center in Vacoas. The finals are scheduled for Saturday 10 from 3 p.m.

Note that Malagasy athletes do not participate in the 12th CJSOI Games on Mauritian soil, while all member countries are present, such as Reunion, Seychelles, Mayotte, Comoros, Djibouti and Mauritius.

The competitions which started yesterday will end on the 11th. Eleven disciplines are on the program for this 12th edition of the CJSOI Games reserved for young people under the age of 17.

Source: Seychelles Nation