By Bockarie Allieu
232News
_____________________________
The 13th All Africa Games commenced in Ghana this year with 52 countries participating in 29 sports at 9 venues. The 13th All Africa Games was schedule to take place in August 2023 but was postponed to March 2024 due to certain circumstances beyond the control of the organizers Ghana. Sierra Leone registered 14 sporting disciplines with 40 athletes 14 coaches with officials and four media personnel. Sierra Leone travelled in all with a 77 man delegation which happens to be the highest number of delegates ever. Among the various sports Beach Volleyball was the only team sports from Sierra Leone. The events started on the 8th March 2024 and will end on the 23rd March 2024. The Games are slowly coming to an end with 9 disciplines from Sierra Leone wrapping up without medals but improved in ranking and grading. As such the Games was used as an Olympic qualifier for some while for some it was for grading and ranking. Among the best performing sports the Sierra Leone male Beach Volleyball team made a brilliant performance on match day 2 of the All Africa Games at the Laboma Beach Volleyball court. Sierra Leone Beach Volleyball male team defeated the All Africa Games champions and the zone 2 champions Gambia two straight. In the first set Sierra Leone came hard on the Gambians and defeat them by 21-15. The Gambians return in the second set with high zeal but could not withstand the endurance and determination of the Sierra Leoneans. The second set went on to game of 2 with both teams having the chance to win. The Gambians came from 20-17 and equalize to 20-20 but Sierra Leone pressed hard to win the match by 22-20. Before the above match the Gambians lost to Kenya 2-0 few hours before facing Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone in their first match defeated Kenya 2-0 a day before their second match. The defeat against Gambia was like a revenge by the Sierra Leone male team as they lost to the Gambians 1-2 in the Zone 2 regional finals in Freetown few months back. Both countries changed the team they played with in Freetown. Ahmed Junior Aruna played with a new partner Musa Junior Kamara Lankee. Mario’s partner was not released by his club in Algeria for the All Africa Games as he Partner with Seni who came from Qatar for the competition. As per tournament procedure the Gambians were already out of the tournament when Sierra Leone won the first match which leads the Kenyans into jubilation even before the end of the last set. According to the head coach Sorie Kamara the victory progress Sierra Leone to the round of 12 teams. Sierra Leone defeated Senegal in the quarter-final stage on Tuesday and qualify for the semi-final to face South Africa. The female Volleyball team lost their first group B match 2-0 against Morocco and defeated Botswana on Tuesday but could not make further to the knock-out stage. Meanwhile in the other events the Sierra Leone Karate moved to the 9th place in Africa out of 24 nations who participated in the competition. Sierra Leone was previously ranked 15th in Africa. In Swimming at the Borteyman Sports complex in Accra Sahr Moses Yongai in the 50m Butterfly came first in Heat 1 with a time of 29,82 making it his personal and season best. His previous best was 33.47 seconds. Joshua Wyse in the 50m Butterfly came 5th and clock 28.70 seconds which was also his new personal and season best. In the Backstroke event Ibrahim Kamara clock new personal and seasonal best 36.41 seconds beating his forma time 38.10 seconds. In the 50m Freestyle Joshua came 7th and clock 27.07 sec. Sahr Youngai in the Men’s 200m individual Medley Heat 3 of 3 in lane 1 Youngai clock 2.58.48 in 7th position. In the 50m freestyle Sahr clock 28.19 in 1st position but could not make it to the next stage. The two swimmers improved on their personal and season best time. In wrestling female category Massah Jalloh failed to make it to the semi-final stage as she lost to her Nigeria counterpart. Weightlifting athlete narrowly missed to win the bronze medals when they tie on points but failed on his weight as he weigh more than his opponent. Cycling took part in the U-23 Men’s race with Karim Conteh and Lamin Kamara both failing to qualify for the next race on past Sunday. The second race took place on Tuesday in which Sierra Leone and six other including the host country were disqualify. Most of the above sports have wrapped up and return back home with the next batch set to return on the 17th March 2024. The last batch of the delegation will return home on the 23rd March 2024.
