All-Africa Junior Badminton Championship-Camille does us proud with singles title |11 August 2009
Shuttler Alisen Camille, 17, showed good form to imitate her three-time African senior
Expectations were high among the Seychelles players, who did not take part in the mixed team event won by South Africa with a 3-2 victory over Mauritius.
With her head firmly on her shoulders, Camille was in a league of her own and didn’t drop a single set in five matches as she took giant steps to the top spot on the medals podium.
She opened her campaign with a 2-0 (21-9, 21-12) first-round win over a Sudanese player, then defeated an opponent from Botswana 2-0 (21-7, 21-8) in a second-round fixture. Against Ugandan top seed Shamim Bangi in the quarterfinal, she won 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) to set up a semifinal encounter with Mauritian Yeldi Louison. It proved to be a tough match-up but she survived the scare to win 2-0 (21-19, 23-21).
In the final she was all fired up, and Kate Foo Kune, who was on the other side of the net, really had no chance as Camille’s eyes were already on the gold medal. She wasted no time in dispatching the Mauritian 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) to capture gold – the first for a Seychellois shuttler in this age category.
Kate Foo Kune and Louison were the gold and silver medallists at last year’s Jeux de la Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de l’Océan indien (CJSOI) hosted by Seychelles.
Fourth overall behind Marielle Bonne in the chase for the Young Female Athlete of the Year 2008 title, Camille won the Jeux de la CJSOI team event and mixed doubles gold medals and was a bronze medallist in the women’s doubles alongside Patricia Course.
Before her success at the weekend, Camille had gathered much experience when she competed in the 11th African Championships and Kenya International, reaching the quarterfinals at the Moi International Sports Complex, in Nairobi.
It’s true, then, when they say success runs in the family!
Who knows, maybe Camille can perform better than her cousin Ah-Wan. It’s going to be interesting to watch the two challenge each other in local competitions.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, Kervin Ghislain reached the quarterfinal, but Joel Dubel lost in the first round.
Ghislain and Dubel teamed up in the men’s doubles to get as far as the quarterfinals, while in the mixed doubles Dubel and Camille were stopped in the quarters.
G. G.