Day 5: Algeria wins silver medal in judo, Moroccan boxer Arjaoui advances

2008-08-13

Algeria won its second medal of the games on Wednesday, this time a silver in heavyweight judo. Moroccan heavyweight boxer Mohammed Arjaoui qualified to the semi-finals.

Mawassi Lahcen in Casablanca and Nazim Fethi in Algiers contributed to this report – 13/08/08

[Getty] Algerian heavyweight judoka Amar Benikhlef poses with the silver medal he won on Wednesday (August 13th).

Algerian judoka Amar Benikhlef made his countrymen proud by winning the silver medal in the –90kg category. On his way to the final, Benikhlef defeated Morocco's Mohamed El Assri in the final 32, Spain's David Alarza in top 16, Switzerland’s Sergei Aschwanden in the quarter-finals and France's Yves Matthieu Darfeveille in the semis. The only opponent to topple the Algerian heavyweight champ was Georgia’s Irakli Tsirekidze.

Following the final, an emotional Ahmed Moussa, the Algerian national coach, said: "This is an honour for Algeria. We’re thrilled with this silver medal. This is an historic achievement – two Olympic medals for Algerian judo."

El Assri is the fourth Moroccan judoka to fall from the competition. Morocco has thus lost all its chances to win medals in judo.

In women’s judo, Algeria's Rachida Ouerdane lost to the Netherlands' Randa Roussy in the final 16 of the -70kg category. Ouerdane went on to win her first heat match against Fiji’s Sisilia Rasokiosoki but was then overpowered by the United States' Ronda Roussey in the second round.

In heavyweight boxing, Morocco fared better. Moroccan heavyweight Mohammed Arjaoui defeated Australia's Brad Pitt in the -91kg category. The move qualified Arjaoui to the semi-finals, where he will play the United States' Wilder Deontay on Saturday. Algeria's Abdelaziz Touilbini lost to the US’s Deontay Wilder in the final 16.

In the -48kg boxing category, Morocco's Redouane Bouchtouk lost 7-11 to Brazil's Paulo Carvalho in the first round of eliminations. In the super heavyweight eliminations, Morocco's Mohamed Amanissi lost to China's Zhilei Zhang. Zhang towered over Amanissi, who lost 0-15.

Thus far, three Moroccan boxers have qualified for advanced rounds, while seven have been eliminated.

[[Mawassi Lahcen] Moroccan heavyweight Mohammed Arjaoui (right) defeated Australia's Brad Pitt, qualifying to the semi finals. He will play Wilder Deontay of the US on Saturday.

In fencing, Algeria's Hadia Bentaleb lost to Hungary's Emese Szasz in final 32 round of the women’s individual épée. Moroccan fencer Ali Lahoussine Xavier lost to France's Guyart Brice, coming in 20th out of 26 competitors, based on points scored.

Moroccan swimmer Sara Elbekri was also eliminated in the women's 200m breaststroke. Elbekri took 28th place out of 41 swimmers with a time of 2:30.04.

Algeria’s Graeco-Roman wrestlers had little luck on Wednesday, with Mohamed Serrir losing to Russia’s Sergey Kovalenko in the -66kg category and Messaoud Zeghdane falling to Germany’s Konstantin Schneider in the -74kg category.

The Algerian women's volleyball team suffered its third consecutive loss, this time 3-1 to Italy in straight sets (25-7, 25-20, 25-12).

Looking ahead to the athletics competitions, Algerian press reports that the country's delegation has not yet decided which of its athletes will participate in the 5,000m race. Both Samir Aggoune and Ali Saidi-Sief want to compete in this distance. Aggoune has an advantage, however, as he had a faster time in his qualification run.

AP reports that Sidney-born Leila Ben-Youssef will compete in the pole vault for her father's native country, Tunisia. The Olympic athletics competitions begin on Friday. Pole vaulting trials are scheduled for Saturday.