Sports Awards of the Year 2017 - Young female, male finalists speak out |17 January 2018

Last year, many young male athletes showed their worth at such a young age as they performed to their highest capability locally and abroad in their respective sport, with their individual effort bringing them success.

As is the case every year, the time has come once again where the bests are rewarded.

As your votes will be counted and will help in choosing the best Young Male and Female Athletes for the year 2017, the profiles of the finalists could help you make your final decision among the five finalists in each gender.

Outgoing Young Male Athlete of the Year, tennis player Damien Laporte, is still a contender as he features among the top five once again, but this time he is being challenged by the likes of Stephen Belle (cycling), Khris Bouchereau (basketball), David Boniface (karate), Dominic Labrosse (sailing).

Three-time outgoing Young Female Athlete of the Year Felicity Passon will not be eligible to defend her title as she has not been chosen as the best young swimmer by the Seychelles Swimming Association who handed in the nomination forms after the deadline.

The finalists for the award are Natasha Chetty (athletics), Noelissa Remie (badminton), Sophie Perolari (karate), Jasmine Monthy (sailing) and Zahira Khattab (table tennis).

Young female finalists

Natasha Chetty – Athletics

 “I performed well locally in all the competitions, but not so well at international level. I’m happy being in the top five and frankly I haven’t the slightest idea of who can win the prize of Young Female Athlete this year,” said Natasha Chetty.

In 2017, young female high jumper Chetty exceeded her performance winning the Special Events One competition with a height of 1.55m in January and she achieved 1.60m in the second competition in mid-February.  During the National Junior Championship, she again cleared the bar at 1.60m to take first place and she achieved the same result in the Junior/Senior Open Championship but was ranked second.

She kept the form throughout the year setting a new championship record at the National Schools Athletics Championship with a best effort of 1.65m to claim the gold medal and she went home with four gold medals in total. The other three came in the 100m (13.59 seconds), 200m (27.66 seconds) and 4×100m relay (56.02 seconds) relay.

Chetty also competed in the African Junior Championship in Algeria where she finished in sixth place with 1.55m, but during the National Championship in July she cleared the bar at 1.70m for a personal best.

Noelisa Remie – Badminton

“I’m shocked that I was nominated, but I’m also really happy. I’m not sure about my performance last year and I don’t know who the winner might be,” Noelisa Remie responded after being asked if she thinks she can win the Young Female Athlete of the Year title.

Remie performed well in all the local competitions, winning the women’s singles of the Curtain-raiser and Seychelles-India day competitions.

In the Curtain-raiser competition, she also performed in the women’s doubles event where she finished as runner-up. She was also ranked second in the women’s singles and mixed doubles events of the Seychelles-India Day tournament. 

Sophie Perolari – Karate

Sophie appeared in the European Tang Soo Do Championship in Rotterdam, Netherlands in October 2017 and won a silver medal in the green belt category ending with a grand total of six points.

This was a great accomplishment for her at international level.

“I’ve had to face a couple of difficulties such as injuries and other educational difficulties, but I came back last year and caught up with the sport and performed well,” said Perolari.

Jasmine Monthy – Sailing

Jasmine performed amazingly in her competitions making her one of the elite competitors. She came out first in all the local competitions she took part in. These include the Hunt Deltel Optimist Cup, Mason’s Travel Optimist Cup, Cascade Slipway Trophy, Eden Optimist Cup and National Championship. She also competed in the Regional Sailing Championship in Mauritius where she came out third in her first international exposure.

When asked about how she feels being in the top five finalists, Jasmine said: “I’m very excited about being picked as one of the top five finalists. It came unexpectedly for me, but then again I did recently win a silver medal in Mauritius which helped with my performance. I don’t know who might be the likely candidate to win the Young Female Athlete of the Year title, but I’m happy to be here either way”. 

Zahira Khattab – Table Tennis

Zahira Khattab played second fiddle to senior finalist Christy Bristol who is a more experienced player.

After finishing as runner-up to Bristol in the women’s singles of the Curtain-raiser tournament, Khattab was once again placed second four times in the Monthly Challenge competitions in June, July, September and November. In the August challenge she finished third, but was again ranked second in the Top-Four Series.

Competing at the Jeux de La Francophonie in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Khattab could not spearhead her team to progress to the second round of the team event and she also lost the mixed doubles to Mauritius.

At the African Cup, she was part of the Seychelles team who were ranked fifth out of nine in the team event, was ranked third out of four players in her pool in the singles event and lost her first doubles match.

“Chosen in the top five came as an unexpected gift for me, because I didn’t expect to be among the top five finalists. I don’t think I have a chance of winning, but I’ll be just as pleased if I make it to the top three. If I had to pick a winner, it would probably be Natasha,” said Khattab.

Young male finalists

Khris Bouchereau ‒ Basketball

Young basketball player and referee Khris Bouchereau was very active last year and his biggest accomplishment was winning a silver medal at the 3x3 African Young Lions Cup in Botswana in December.

The 16-year-old teamed up with Stan Jean, Hensley Bristol and Beejay Bertin to reach the under-18 final but lost it 14-17 to Zimbabwe.

Bouchereau plays for second division side Mont Fleuri Ballerz.

“It’s a great honour for me to be among the best young athletes as my goal was to one day feature in a Sports Awards of the Year ceremony. So, I am very happy to have achieved this goal. With my good performance in 2017, I think I have a chance of winning the title but it will depend on the jury,” exclaimed Bouchereau. 

Stephen Belle ‒ Cycling

Stephen Belle made history last year by becoming the first Seychellois cyclist to win a gold medal in track cycling. At the African Continental Track Championship held at the Cyril Geoghegan Velodrome in Durban, South Africa, Belle triumphed in the 200m junior men’s sprint race to claim the gold medal as he beat a South African in the final.

In the same competition, Belle, 17, won three bronze medals in the 10km junior men’s scratch race, in the team sprint and in the mixed team pursuit.

Belle also formed part of a six-member delegation who took party in the African Championship in Luxor, Egypt in February last year and he was ranked 10th overall and the best Indian Ocean cyclist in the road race. He also placed eighth in the individual time trial.

He also took part in the World Championship track race in Italy, World Championship road race in Norway and in international classical races in South Africa, Switzerland and France.

“I am very happy to be among the finalists for the Young Male Athlete of the Year title. It is my first time in a Sports Awards of the Year ceremony and looking back on what I have accomplished in 2017, I believe and I am very confident I will win the title,” said Belle.

David Boniface ‒ Karate

David Boniface formed part of the Seychelles Tang Soo Do delegation who took part in the European Tang Soo Do Championship held in Rotterdam, Netherlands in October last year. The Northern Tang Soo Do karateka won both the open hand kata and kata with weapon to claim two gold medals in his category. Boniface, 18, also won a silver medal in the sparing contest.

In the Seychelles Karate Federation’s inter-school championship, Boniface won a gold medal in kata, two silver medals in team kumite and team kata and a bronze medal in kumite.

“I feel very happy and grateful to be in the same group with the country’s best young athletes. All the sacrifices I’ve been making in the sport are starting to pay off. For me to win the title is a bit hard to predict as the other athletes have also done very well, so it will all depend on the decision of the jury if I deserve to win it,” said Boniface.

Dominic Labrosse ‒ Sailing

Dominic Labrosse proved himself as number one in youth sailing last year as he excelled locally and internationally.

Labrosse’s biggest exploit last year was on the international scene when he claimed the gold medal in the Optimist category at the Fifth Regional Sailing Championship in Mauritius.

The 16-year-old also took 27th position in the African Laser championship held last July in Egypt.

Locally, he won five of the six competitions and came out second once. His wins came in the Hunt Deltel Optimist Cup, Mason’s Travel Optimist Cup, Cascade Slipway Trophy, National Championship and Eden Optimist Cup.

“I feel honoured and really happy to have been chosen among the best young athletes. I had a great season last year and as I know very little on the performances of the other athletes, I will leave it to the judges to decide who the best athlete is,” said Labrosse.

Damien Laporte ‒ Tennis

Young Male Athlete of the Year 2016 Damien Laporte started off well in 2017 as he won a gold and a silver medal at the ITF/CAT Eastern African Junior Championship in Kenya in January 2017.

Teaming up with Theo Barois in the boys’ double, the duo won gold for Seychelles as they defeated the Burundian pair 2-0 in the final. Laporte missed out on the gold medal, claiming a silver medal in the boys’ single after losing 0-2 to Kenya’s Albert Njongu.

He was ranked in the top-8 in the under-16 age group at the African Junior Championship.

This is the seventh year in a row 15-year-old Laporte features among the top five best young athletes.

“It feels good again to be among the best. I’ve put in a lot of hard work to maintain my top five position and I’m just hoping to win again this year even though I think it will be a lot harder this time as I did not do many tournaments, plus the other athletes, they’ve done really well last year. Maybe I might have a chance to win it. It will depend on the jury,” said Laporte.

Compiled by Patrick Joubert and Rodney Rose