Nigeria’s women’s epee team marked a historic achievement at the 23rd African Fencing Championships, securing their first-ever win in the competition and finishing among the top five teams on the continent.
The five-day event, hosted by the Nigeria Fencing Federation at Charterhouse, Lagos, drew over 120 fencers from 18 countries. While Egypt dominated the tournament, Nigeria gave the home crowd reason to cheer with a hard-fought 45-40 victory over Benin Republic in the fifth-place classification match.
The Nigerian trio—Somtochukwu Eribenne, Sara Idongesit, and Adebodunirin Thomas—rebounded after a quarterfinal loss to Algeria, demonstrating remarkable resilience and teamwork.
“We are excited to win our first game and also finish in the top five,” Thomas said. “This will surely help our confidence going into the next competition.”
Egypt’s Dominance Continues
Egypt reaffirmed its continental dominance, clinching 11 gold medals across various events. In the men’s team foil, the Egyptian quartet—Abdelrahman Tolba, Karim Medhat, Mohamed Hamza, and Sief Elghayesh—crushed Nigeria 45-9 in the semifinals before defeating Angola 45-23 in the final.
Angola, who stunned Algeria 45-44 in a nail-biting semifinal, celebrated their first podium finish in the event, led by Tomas Pedro, Valter Barros, Francisco Manuel, and Luis Macedo.
More Gold for Egypt in Women’s Events
In a dramatic women’s team epee final, Egypt was awarded the gold medal after the match was stopped at 6-6 when Algeria refused to continue, leading to a P. Black ruling in Egypt’s favor.
Egypt’s women’s sabre team—featuring Alanoud Hegazy, Nada Hafez, Nagwa Nofal, and Renad Eldoksh—added another gold with a 45-40 win over Algeria.
Final Medal Table Highlights
- Egypt: 11 Gold, 5 Silver, 5 Bronze
- Kenya: 1 Gold
- Tunisia: 2 Silver, 2 Bronze
- Algeria: 1 Silver, 6 Bronze
- Côte d’Ivoire & South Africa: 1 Silver, 1 Bronze each
- Angola: 1 Silver
- Morocco, Cape Verde, Senegal: 1 Bronze each
