Day 11: Algeria out of boxing competition

19/08/2008

The eleventh day of the Beijing Games failed to bring more medal honours to the Maghreb, though chances still remain in athletics and taekwondo.

Mona Yahia in Tunis, Mawassi Lahcen in Casablanca and Nazim Fethi in Algiers contributed to this report – 19/08/08

[Getty Images] Moroccan runner Mariem Alaoui Selsouli soldiered through a difficult women's 5000m on day 11 of the Beijing Games.

Day 11 of Olympic competition in Beijing proceeded without any major victories for the Maghreb. Moroccan runner Mariem Alaoui Selsouli soldiered through a difficult women's 5000m, where both speed and distance were a challenge.

Only the first six of each heat and three runners-up are eligible to move to the next round, and Sesouli came in eleventh, ending her chance at a medal. She clocked in 15:21.47 in her heat, while the number one spot went to Ethiopian Defar Meseret.

In the men's 1500m final, Morocco's Abdalaati Iguider came in sixth, with a final time of 3 minutes, 34.66 seconds. He looked set to win the bronze but was edged out at the end of the race. Bahrain's Ramzi Rashid won the gold with 3:32.94, beating Kenyan Asbel Kiprop, who finished in 3:33.11.

The competitors failed to top the world record of 3:26.00 set by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj in 1998.

In table tennis, Idir Khourta of Algeria won his opening game against Australia's William Henzell in the men's preliminary round but failed to keep his momentum and lost 4-1.

Abdelhafid Benchebla, Algeria's last hope for a medal in boxing, was defeated in the quarter finals by China's Zhang Xiaoping on points (12-7) in the 81kg category. Contrary to predictions made by Algerian boxing authorities, the country's pugilists failed to earn a single medal.

All eyes are now on the two competitors for track and field medals: Ali Saidi Sief in the 5000m on Wednesday and Nahida Touhami in the 1500m on Thursday.

Day 11 saw no Tunisians in competition, but the team has events scheduled through the rest of the week. Fresh off his victory over Korea's Oksung Lee, boxer Walid Cherif will fight Italy's Vincenzo Picardi on Wedensday evening in the men's 51kg category. Adnan Rhimi will wrestle on Thursday in the men's 84kg freestyle, Hatem Ghoula will compete in the 50km race walk on Friday, and Khaoula Ben Hamza will compete in the women's +67kg taekwondo event on Saturday.

Morocco has three competitors in taekwondo this week: Ghizlane Toudali will compete on Wednesday in the women's -49kg category, Mouna Benabderrassoul in the women's -67kg on Friday, and Abdelkader Zrouri in the men's +80kg on Saturday.

Three Moroccans – Mourad Marofit, Abdelaziz Ennaji El Idrissi and Anis Selmouni – will run in the men's 5000m on Wednesday, and Abderrahim Goumri will run in the marathon on Sunday, offering the national team's last chances to earn a gold medal.