African Games 2019: Moroccan Karateka Win 15 Medals

Rabat -The Moroccan Karate team has won 15 medals during the ongoing African Games 2019, in Prince Moulay Abdellah sports complex, in Rabat. The wins include nine gold medals, four silver, and two bronze.

Sayah Aicha won the gold medal in the under 50 kg category. Nisrin Brouk (-68 kg), Abderrahmane Eddaqaq (-67 kg), Achraf Ouchene (+84 kg), Sanae Agalmam, and Mohamed El Hanni also won gold in the individual Kata competitions.

The Moroccan national teams for men and women won the Kata team competitions, while the women’s team also won the Kumite team competition, earning Morocco its ninth gold medal in Karate competitions.

In the men’s Kumite team competition, the national team earned a silver medal. Abdesalam Ameknassi (-60 kg), Khaoula Ouhmad (-55 kg), and Nabil Chaabi (-84 kg) also won silver medals in their respective categories. Ibtissam Sadini (-61 kg) and Yassine Sekouri (-75 kg) all placed third in their competitions, winning bronze medals.

The Moroccan Royal Federation of Karate’s general secretary, Abdelhay El Kantaoui, commended “the honorable results achieved by the Moroccan Karate team during the African Games”, in a statement to the Moroccan press agency MAP.

“These results are the fruit of many preparation stages that Moroccan Karate has participated in, such as the African Championship, in Botswana, where Morocco won 11 gold medal with 18 participants, or the Arab Championship, in Tunisia, where Morocco won 4 gold medals,” he added.

The latest wins by Moroccan Karate team bring the total of medals earned by Moroccan athletes to 68, with 22 gold, 19 silver, and 27 bronze.

Morocco remains in the 3rd spot in the medals board of the African Games in their 8th day, behind Egypt with 116 medals (37 gold) and South Africa with 56 medals (25 gold).

The African Games 2019, held in Morocco, will continue until the end of August. More than 6,000 athletes, from 54 countries, in 29 different sports are participating in this year’s games. It is Morocco’s first time participating in the African Games, after its return to the African Union in 2017.