XX Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014 |29 July 2014

Seychellois athletes keep chasing first medal in Scotland

Seychellois athletes were in action on Sunday and yesterday in their bid to give the country its first medal at the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

The swimmers were once again in action at the Tollcross Swimming Centre with Adam Viktora getting a sixth place finish in the men’s 100m butterfly heats.

The 17-year-old finished the race in a time of 1 minute 01.13 seconds (1:01.13) which was far from the slowest qualifying time of 54.62 seconds.

In the women’s 100m freestyle, Felicity Passon was in action, finishing in fifth position in 1:00.15, which again was not enough for a qualifying time. Cate Campbell of Australia posted the fastest time of 53.20 seconds, while the slowest qualifying time was 57.37 seconds.

Yesterday, Hoffman managed to get a win in the 50m freestyle heat number three, but his time of 25.78 seconds was not good enough for him to qualify for the next round as the slowest qualifying time was 23.23 seconds, while Cameron McEvoy of Australia was the fastest in 22.04 seconds.

For the same event, Adam Viktora finished in fourth place in his heat with a faster time of 25.13 seconds.

For the ladies, Felicity Passon finished fourth in the 50m backstroke heats in 32.74 seconds, failing to qualify as the slowest time was 31.14 seconds.

In squash, in which our two athletes were making their debut at the games being held at the Scotstoun Sports Centre, Ridvan Prosper lost his round of 32 match in the plate competition on Friday on a 3-0 (11-2, 11-3, 11-2) score against Welshman Scott Fitzgerald. This defeat meant he had to compete in the consolation plate tournament. And in the round of 16 of the consolation plate, he lost to Gibraltar’s Christian Navas on a 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-2) score.

In the women’s competition, Eva Alphonse lost in the consolation plate quarterfinals to Dorothy Boyce of Papua New Guinea. The final score was 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-4), a performance that though not good enough would have been quite encouraging for Alphonse.

Four of our track & field athletes were in action on Sunday at the Hampden Park. First off the blocks was Neddy Marie who was competing in the men’s 100m heats. Marie finished sixth out of seven competitors with a time of 11.34 seconds. Mark Jelks of South Africa came out first in 10.28 seconds.

In the ninth heat of the same event, Leeroy Henriette finished eighth out of nine competitors with a time of 11.12 seconds. First in his race was Trinidad & Tobago’s Keston Bledman in 10.16 seconds.

Also in action was Joanne Loutoy in the women’s 100m heats. She could only finish seven out of eight competitors with a time of 12.16 seconds. Canadian Khamica Bingham finished first with a time of 11.44 seconds.

Men’s throws specialist Dean Williams was involved in the shot put qualification group B on Sunday and his best effort was measured at 12.89 metres in his first attempt. He finished in 10th place and did not qualify for the final.

William competed in the hammer throw event yesterday where he finished 10th with a throw of 47.18 metres measured in his third attempt. Mark Dry of Scotland had the longest throw with a distance of 71.62m.

In boxing, young Andrique Allisop carried a lot of Seychelles’ hope for a medal on his shoulders as he went into the ring for his 60kg bout on Sunday evening. His opponent was Cobia Breedy from Barbados and he proved to be too strong for the young Seychellois fighter.
 
Allisop lost the fight on a 0-3 score.

Meanwhile in weightlifting, Terence Dixie managed to finish fourth in the men’s 85kg group B. He finished with a total lift of 267kg (122kg in snatch, and 145kg in clean & jerk). The winner of the group was Canada’s Darryl Conrad with a total of 298kg (133kg & 165kg).

In women’s weightlifting, Janet Georges won a lot of plaudits from the Scottish public as she took the stage. Some even applauded her on social media as the announcer talked about how Georges had retired from the sport to give birth and only recently made a comeback.
 
The 35-year-old Commonwealth Games medallist lifted a total of 180kg (85kg in snatch and 95kg in clean & jerk) to finish in third place in the women’s 69kg group B. Sandra Ako, 20,  of Papua New Guinea won the group with a total lift of 191kg (85kg & 106kg).

By the time of going to press, the second group had just started competing and it is only after all the lifters have completed their lifts that the top three would be known.

At Hampden Park, Jean-Paul Juliette and Andy Labrosse made their Commonwealth Games debut in the para-sport 100m T37.

In heat one, Labrosse finished in sixth place with a time of 18.76 seconds. Charl Du Toit of South Africa won the race in 12.02 seconds.

As for Juliette, he also managed a sixth place finish, crossing the finish line in 24.03 seconds. South Africa’s Fanie Van Der Merwe won the race in 11.75.

Text and photos Sedrick Nicette in Glasgow