Day 6: No Maghreb medals, but boxers advance

14/08/2008

Maghreb boxers continue to prove themselves in Beijing, an Algerian swimmer posts a respectable finish in a tough heat and runners prepare for Track and Field events to begin.

Mawassi Lahcen in Casablanca, Nazim Fethi in Algiers and Mona Yahia in Tunis contributed to this report – 14/08/08

[Mawassi Lahcen] Moroccan fans in Beijing are looking forward to the opening of the athletics competitions on Friday at the Olympics Games.

The sixth day of the Olympic Games in Beijing saw no new medals for Maghreb athletes, but Algerian boxers Abdelhafid Benchabla and Nawfel Ouettah both won their Thursday (August 14th) matches to move on to the next round.

In boxing, Morocco's Driss Moussaid lost to Cuba's Iglesias Sotolongo Roniel in the quarter-finals of the -64kg category. The Cuban boxer showed strong skills with his left hand, winning the match 15-4 by points.

Only two Moroccan boxers -- Mohammed Arjaoui and Hechem Mesbahi – remain in the competition.

Arjaoui's face was all over international broadcast and print news wires Wednesday night after the Moroccan heavyweight defeated a champion Australian boxer 11-6 with a memorable name.

The headline: Arjaoui beats Brad Pitt.

On Saturday, Arjaoui will fight the United States' Wilder Deontay in the semi-finals.

The other Moroccan boxer with a shot at a medal, Hicham Mesbahi, will next face Botswana's Khumiso Ikgopoleng.

In a -81kg bout, Algeria's Abdelhafid Benchabla defeated Egypt's Ramdane Yasser. Algeria also scored a win in the -91kg competition, when Nawfel Ouettah pounded Venezuela's José Payares.

On the wrestling mats, Algeria's Samir Bouguerra lost to China's Jiang Huachen in the final 16 round of the -96kg Greco-Roman competition. Tunisia's Haikel Ashouri also lost, with a score of 10-0 to Azerbaijan's Shalfa Ghadabadzi in the final eighth round of the -84kg category.

Following his match, Ashouri has that he had done his best to achieve a good score against his strong and fit opponent. The Tunisian added, however, that his over-the-mat throws were not powerful enough to take the Azeri wrestler by surprise and score any points.

Algerian judoka Hassan Azzoun also lost to an Azeri, the -100kg Movlud Miraliyev, in the final round of 32. Azzoun was eliminated from the competition after suffering another defeat in his second heat match, this time by Georgia's Levan Zhorzholiani.

Tunisia's Hoda Milad, also waived goodbye to the -78kg judo contest after losing to France's Stephani Boasami in the second round of the competition.

Milad said she did not deserve to leave the game, and that she had had more control and better moves than her opponent. However, she said, an injury that had caused her to stop training for three weeks had affected her fitness and she felt unwell at the end of the match. Milad also noted that she has not had good luck against Boasami in the past, citing her defeat by the French judoka in the final minute of the 2007 Rio de Janeiro World Championship.

Algerian star Salim Iles, who carried the Algerian flag in the opening ceremony, took sixth place in the highly-contested 50m freestyle competition.

Moroccan runners are primed for the opening of the Track and Field competitions on Friday. Champion runner Hasna Benhassi will take part in her first race as part of the Group A eliminations in the women's 800m. Hanane Ouhaddou will compete in the first round of the women's 3,000m steeplechase, while Asmae Laghzaoui will play in the first and final women's 10,000m race.

Morocco's Abdelaati Iguider will run in Group C of the first round of the men's 1,500m eliminations. In the same category, Mohamed Moustaoui will race in Group D. And in Group A, Morocco's Youssef Baba will face fierce competition from Algeria's Tarek Boukensa and Algerian-born Frenchman Mehdi Baala.