Sports year 2014 in review - Seychelles’ golden moments |31 December 2014

As 2014 nears its end Seychelles Nation reflects on a year of trophies, titles, record breakers and also … the sad moments.

Seychelles’ first and only professional triathlete Nick Baldwin continued to fly the Seychelles flag high around the world and was ranked fourth at the Ironman Wales 2014 long-distance triathlon in Tenby (a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run) with a combined time of 9 hours, 41 minutes 04 seconds to qualify for the world championships to be held in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The world championships are considered the most gruelling one-day sporting event in the world.

He was fourth in the third Ironman Sweden which attracted 2,700 athletes, and completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run in a combined time of 8h30:30.

His first professional podium came at Ironman Australia in May. He finished the race in a combined time of 8h41:19 – 50:10 in the 3.86km swim, 4h50:54 in the 180.25km bike, and 2h56:22 in the 42.2km run – to take third position overall in the men’s professional category.

Prior to taking part in Ironman Australia, Baldwin took fifth place in a good field of professional athletes in his first race of the 2014 season at the Challenge Taiwan on the south east coast of the island in Taitung in a time of 8h38:52 – 15 minutes behind winner and defending champion Dylan McNeice of New Zealand.

Baldwin also won the Swashbuckler triathlon – a 0.6-mile swim, 27-mile bike and 7-mile run – in New Forest, United Kingdom in a time of 2h01:08.
President James Michel commended Baldwin for his excellent international rankings.

"Your achievements have brought much pride to Seychelles. Being ranked third in Ironman Australia 2014 is a remarkable result. You have been promoting good values throughout your ambitious development as a professional triathlete," President Michel told Baldwin when he met him at State House.

Arsu win record eighth zone 7 club championship crown

Women’s volleyball club Arsu defeated twice defending champions Saint Denis Olympique of Reunion 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-17) in front of local fans inside a packed Palais des Sports to win the Confederation of African Volleyball zone 7 club championship for a record eighth time.

This was Arsu’s eighth win in 18 years after past victories in 1997 and 2008 (in Seychelles), in 1998 (in Madagascar), 2002, 2003 and 2009 (in Mauritius), and in 2006 (in Reunion).

Arsu’s Marielle Bonne was voted Most Valuable Player and Best Attacker, her mother Jerina Bonne won the Best Blocker title and Avrille Houareau took home the Best Setter award.

Cascade were ranked third in the women’s competition and in the men’s competition, Beau Vallon settled for third place as they lost their title to Saint Denis Olympique of Reunion.

Meanwhile, in the Indian Ocean Club Championship for basketball, Mont Fleuri were ranked second in the women’s competition after losing 60-67 to Mauritian outfit Union Sportive de Beau Bassin Rose-Hill (USBBRH) in the final.
Men’s team PLS Hawks could only finish third.

The country’s men’s national team punched their tickets for next year’s All-Africa Games but will have to play in the group one qualifiers for the AfroBasket 2015.

The Seychelles men’s team did not have to break a sweat to qualify for next year’s All-Africa Games scheduled for September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Congo as Madagascar withdrew their involvement in the qualifiers slated for early next year. The country’s pre-selection were to play Madagascar away on January 3 and host the Malagasies on January 10 in the two-legged qualifiers.

In a letter sent to the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF), the Fédération international de Basket-ball Association (Fiba) Africa wrote that because of Madagascar’s withdrawal, the Seychelles men’s basketball team will automatically qualify for the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo, but unfortunately the team cannot qualify for the AfroBasket without playing any competition.

As a result, Seychelles have been integrated in group one comprising Zimbabwe, Angola, South Africa and Zambia. The qualifying tournament will be played in 2015 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Judoka Nantenaina Finesse and boxer Kevin Kilindo gold medallists at African Youth Games

At the African Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana, judoka Nantenaina Finesse and boxer Kevin Kilindo grabbed a gold medal apiece for Seychelles.

Judoka Finesse earned Seychelles its first ever gold medal at these Games after his opponent failed to turn up for the final, while young boxer Kevin Kilindo won the gold medal on a 3-0 score against a Nigerian in the final after he had received a favourable draw to qualify straight for the final.

The two bronze medallists were swimmer Felicity Passon in the 50m butterfly (29.14 seconds) and 50m freestyle (27.37 seconds) events, and athlete Ned Azemia in the 400m hurdles (53.27 seconds).

In athletics, Jemmy Anacoura captured the half-marathon bronze medal during the 14th Suncheon Namseungryong marathon in Suncheon City, South Korea with a time of 1h18:02.20, almost 10 minutes slower than the time of the winner who posted 1h10:21.39.

Joanne Loutoy became the new darling of Seychelles’ track and field athletics with a new 100m record and she erased Joanna Houareau’s 11.89 seconds during the Vital-sponsored Mauritius National Championship at the Bambous Stadium in Mauritius.

Motivated to do well as running alongside her was a Mauritian sprinter who had been training in Jamaica, Loutoy stopped the clock at 11.86 seconds to win the race.

"I did not expect the record, but from the start I was aggressive. I was hyped up as I wanted to show the Mauritian sprinter who had been training in Jamaica that I too can run. My target was 11.99 seconds to beat my personal best of 12.14 seconds set in Mauritius in April. In fact, I surprised myself with the new record time of 11.86 seconds. I believe I got my focus right on this day and I ran a strong race,” home-grown speedster Loutoy told Sports Nation.

Loutoy, who competed in the 60 metres event at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships earlier this year, also won the 200m race in 24.96 seconds which is a personal best.

In badminton, Juliette Ah-wan and Alisen Camille were the women’s doubles silver medallists at the African Senior Badminton Championships in Botswana. They also formed part of the team alongside Chlorie Cadeau, Danielle Jupiter, Georgie Cupidon, Steve Malcouzane and Kervin Ghislain who won the bronze medal.

Bodybuilder Ziad Al Adou Meckdachi won gold for Seychelles in the under-90kg category and finished as overall runner-up at the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) Mr Olympia Amateur Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa, before retaining the Mr Seychelles crown.

He was also ranked second at the Night of the Champions contest in Moka, Mauritius where Rodney Henriette won the best poser title.

In boxing, Andrique Allisop was the gold medallist in the 60kg weight category at the fifth Africa Boxing Cup in South Africa after defeating Namibian Shanningwa Lazarus 3-0 in the final.

He also won all his previous three bouts on points. In the preliminaries he beat Algerian Ziani Djoudi 3-0, before eliminating Tienmeni Ngamaleup of Cameroon by the same score. His toughest fight was in the semifinal where he faced a Moroccan Khollouk Driss and he managed a narrow 2-1 win to progress to the final.

Speaking to Sports Nation Allisop said: “I think my performance was really good. I can say it is the first time that I perform at such a good level in Africa.”

Allisop was also a gold medallist at Limassol Open in Cyprus.
Keddy Agnes was also a medal winner at the fifth Africa Boxing Cup. He won a bronze medal in the 91+kg category after losing in the semifinal to a South African opponent.

At the Limassol Open in Cyprus, Agnes lost his fight in the 91kg final by TKO in the third round. Agnes was leading his opponent in the first and second rounds, but slipped in the third and hurt his leg. He beat Ahmed Ashraf Ibrahim of Egypt on a 3-0 decision to reach the final.

Boxer Kevin Kilindo won the silver medal in the 91kg category at the African Youth Championship in Yaounde, Cameroon. After earning a bye straight into the final, Kilindo faced Bouzid Youcef from Algeria in a hard bout which he lost on points – 0-3.

CJSOI tournaments

Seychelles hosted a number of CJSOI (Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de l'Océan Indien) tournaments and local athletes competed in as many held in countries in the region.

In table tennis at the Omnisports Gym at Roche Caïman, Nicholas Esther won a silver medal for Seychelles in the boys’ singles event as the country also won four bronze medals through Zahira Khattab and Sheryn Jeannevol in the girls’ doubles, Nicholas Esther and Bjorn Mousbé in the boys’ doubles, boys’ team event and girls’ team event.

The country’s girls’ team won the handball bronze medal at the Palais des Sports de Mahamasina in Madagascar and Michel Evenor was also a bronze medallist in the athletics event in Reunion. He finished with 2,876 points for third place in the under-17 age category pentathlon with individual performances of 7.75 seconds in the 50m hurdles race, 3 minutes 38.02 seconds in the 1,000m race, 5.84 metres in the long jump event, 1.77m in the high jump and 12.90m in the shot put – the only event he won.

Haydan Ah-Wan (1:01.61 in 100m freestyle), Samuele Rossi (7.12 secondes in 50m freestyle and 1:14.83 in 100m breaststroke) were Seychelles’ gold medallists in swimming at the Roche Caïman pool.

The local swimmers also won five silver and 15 bronze medals.
Chris Germain was Seychelles’ best cyclist at the 33rd Tour De Maurice as he finished third in the junior category with a cumulative time of 14h24:19
In football, the year 2014 was an impressive season for St Michel, the country’s most dominant force in football since the re-introduction of sports club as they did not only win the President’s Cup, Barclays league division one crown and the Intelvision Cup, but they also bettered the number of league titles – 11 – won by the once fearsome St Louis FC during the regionalisation era (1980s and early 1990s). Adding this year’s league crown, St Michel won their 12th league success this year.

At the Second Africa Judo Open in Mauritius, Dominic Dugasse won the -100kg bronze medal after beating Mauritian Hansley Adonis by ippon.

Brigitte Rose won a gold medal in the 78kg class for Seychelles at the Rodrigues International Judo Tournament, while Leslie Philoe won two fights before losing in the final to a Mauritian opponent to win the silver medal in the 81kg category. As for Naddy Jeanne who competed in the 73kg category, he won his first fight before losing the next one to a judoka from Rodrigues to end up taking the bronze medal.

At the third Seychelles international judo tournament, young judoka Jean-Michel Vidot was the only Seychellois athlete to reach the final and he lost the -60kg gold medal to Reunionnais Michel Bodzen by ippon.

Clementina Agricole misses out on Commonwealth Games medal

At the XX Commonwealth in Glasgow, Scotland, Team Seychelles did not win a medal but the closest we came to winning one was through Clementina Agricole who unluckily finished fourth in weightlifting, missing out on a bronze medal by only 3kg in the women’s 58kg weight class.

Agricole, who held much of Seychelles’ hope on her shoulders, lifted 88kg in the snatch event before going on to lift 111kg in clean & jerk for an Olympic total of 199kg, which was just 3kg less than the total achieved by third-placed Michaela Breeze of Wales. The gold medal went to England’s Zoe Smith who lifted a total of 210kg for a new Commonwealth Games record.

Female judoka Brigitte Rose lost the -78kg class bronze medal fight to Canadian Ana Laura Portuondo by ippon in less than 15 seconds after she had also lost to eventual silver medallist Gemma Gibbons of England in the quarterfinals.

Seychelles had sent its biggest ever delegation of more than 70 people to these games and took part in a record nine sports.

Felicity Passon best swimmer at Cana zones 3 and 4 short course champs

Young swimming sensation Felicity Passon won two bronze medals and improved two Seychelles records at the South Africa level three national age group championship for 18 years old and under held in Cape Town.

At the 12th Swimming Confederation of Africa (Cana) Zones 3 and 4 swimming short course championships in Kampala, Uganda, Passon was in a league of her own as she won nine medals – seven gold and two silver – and the best female swimmer trophy for the 13-14 years category.

She collected gold medals in the 100m backstroke (1:08.90), 50m backstroke (31.70 seconds), 50m butterfly (28.80 seconds), 100m butterfly (1:05.20), 50m freestyle (26.80 seconds), 100m freestyle (59.45 seconds) and 200m individual medley (2:33.44). She grabbed her silver medals in the 800m freestyle (9:44.10) and 200m butterfly (2:35.50).

At the 12th Fédération Internationale de Natation (Fina) world short course championship held in Doha, Qatar, Seychellois swimmers broke nine Seychelles records and established another.

The record breakers were Passon {100m freestyle (56.85 seconds), 50m freestyle (26.00 seconds), 50m butterfly (28.49 seconds), 100m butterfly (1:03.38) and 200m individual medley (2:31.74)}, Alexus Laird {50m backstroke (30.31 seconds), 100m backstroke (1:02.20), 200m backstroke (2:18.20)} and Pierre-André Adam {200m breaststroke (2:35.28)}.

The country’s 4x50m mixed medley relay team of Alexus Laird, Felicity Passon, Pierre-André Adam and Dean Hoffman set a new record of 1:51.50.

Two gold, two silver and two bronze medals for Seychelles at regional sailing championships

The Seychelles team came back from the Regional Sailing Championships held in Mauritius with six medals – two gold, two silver and two bronze.

Allan Julie and Meggy Gertrude were the two gold medallists. Julie won the Laser Standard class, while Gertrude triumphed in the women’s Laser Radial category. Julie won six out the 10 races he competed in at the championships to finish on 14 points.

In the same Laser Standard category, Seychelles won the silver and bronze medals as Govinden twin brothers – Rodney and Roy – finished second and third respectively.

The other silver medal winner was Allison Hoareau who was competing in the girls’ Laser 4.7 category. Despite finishing ninth overall, she received the silver medal as only two girls competed in the events.

Scott André won the bronze in the Optimist class, finishing behind two Reunionais with 42 points.

New state-of-the-art swimming pool on Praslin

Praslin got a new state-of-the-art eight-lane 25-metre swimming pool named Eve Island Swimming Pool and which was officially inaugurated by President James Michel and Vijay Patel.

Vijay Patel of Vijay Construction Pty Ltd contributed R5 million – one third of the total sum of R15 million – towards the project which started on November 11, 2013 with the laying of the foundation stone. Mr Patel has also offered to help in the operation of the facilities while the local technicians are trained. The government has made a R10 million contribution to the construction of the pool which is of Fédération internationale de Natation (Fina) standards and can host international short course competitions.

In tennis, Damien Laporte and Shaun Andriamaro won the boys’ doubles of the first leg of Mauritius International Tournament, but Laporte had to settle for the silver in the under-14 boys’ singles.

Seychelles player Kurt Meier dies from stroke at Chess Olympiad

The local chess family lost one of their best players – Kurt Meier – during the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway.  The 67-year-old collapsed while playing a match against a Rwandan player in the final round of the Olympiad and died as a result of a stroke.

Mr Meier was originally from Switzerland and he was married to a Seychellois national.

He has been described as a very good player having contributed the most points for Seychelles on the men’s side who finished 150th out of  177 teams, while the country’s women’s team were ranked 130th out of 136 teams at the world's most prestigious international chess tournament.

The local judo family also lost one of its pillars – Gerard Baker. Baker’s body was retrieved from his car under the sea at Roche Caïman. The 35-year-old had retired from the sport as an athlete but was still very much involved in its development. He was a silver medallist in the 73kg category at the sixth Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) in Mauritius in 2003. Baker was also the chairman of the Seychelles Judo Federation (SJF) from 2006 to 2009 and also worked as a judo sports officer with the National Sports Council for some time.

The sport of bodybuilding also lost a young member – Mathew Suzette. The 24-year-old Praslinois bodybuilder was found dead at his place at Salazie, Côte d’Or, Praslin. Suzette used to practice bodybuilding and won the Mr Seychelles junior 2009 title in front of Lynell Hoareau and was second to Emmanuel Pierre in the Junior Championship in 2010.

The tennis and netball families also lost a dear friend, Damienne Morel. Aged 49, Damienne was brutally attacked by two masked men at her home in La Retraite.

G. G.