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Franck Eyeni books himself into final as Israel Madaye falters in Abidjan

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Franck Eyeni aiming.

Top seed Franck Eyeni carried his strong form from yesterday’s qualifications into the elimination rounds, defeating tournament favourite Israel Madaye to reach the recurve men’s gold medal match at the Abidjan 2025 African Archery Championships.

Although Madaye – the only recurve men’s competitor in Abidjan who took part in the Paris 2024 Games – posted a modest 606 in the 72-arrow ranking round, it was reasonable to expect that his Olympic experience would help him recover, refocus and progress to the later stages.

The 37-year-old archer from Chad, however, appeared lacklustre at Stade Robert Champroux de Marcory. He narrowly overcame 19-year-old Stephane Koffi Gadeka 6-4 in the opening elimination round, including a fourth set in which he scored just 19.

Madaye seemed to regain some rhythm in the quarterfinals, sweeping Landry Damité Tamini in straight sets, but his performance drew little sympathy from the local crowd, as both Tamini and Gadeka are Ivorian.

All eyes then turned to Eyeni, who was tasked with preventing a clean sweep of Ivorian recurve men exiting their home championships. He just about managed it, edging past Madaye 6-4.

The Nabeul 2023 mixed team silver medallist was inconsistent, scoring 20, 29, 22, 28 and 22. Madaye, cumulatively, matched Eyeni’s total of 99 across four ends with 24, 24, 26, 25, tying the match at 4-4. The recurve set system produced a dramatic finale, as a missed arrow and a two from the Chadian ended his gold medal hopes in his sixth African Archery Championships.

Considering Madaye is one of the continent’s most experienced international archers – having competed in the Indoor World Series, two World Archery Championships and the Umag 2023 European Grand Prix – it remains surprising that he has yet to claim an individual medal at African level.

Ivorian archers cheering for teammate Franck Eyeni.

Although the way his match against Eyeni ended will be disappointing, Madaye still has a chance to reach the podium. He faces South Africa’s Connor Young in the bronze medal match on Sunday.

Eyeni, meanwhile, will take satisfaction from his win, which allows him to make amends for his near-miss at the Pretoria 2022 African Archery Championships. Three years ago, Anne-Marie Yedagne became the first Ivorian African Champion in the recurve women’s event, while Eyeni narrowly lost the gold to Wian Roux.

Like that contest, Sunday’s final will be tough for the 24-year-old, as he faces Rabat 2019 African Games runner-up and Toky0 2020 Olympian Mohamed Hammed. Eyeni has competed at this level before, but never in front of a home crowd, adding an extra layer of pressure.

It is also worth mentioning that Abidjan 2025 sees the inaugural event of Barebow women in the African Championships following Barebow men's introduction at Nabeul 2023.

Abidjan 2025 also marks the inaugural inclusion of barebow women at the African Championships, following the introduction of barebow men in Nabeul 2023. Yacine Myriam Coulibaly has already secured a place on the historic podium by defeating Grace Erica Tek 7-1 in the all-Ivorian bronze medal match.

On Sunday, Kenya’s Gloria Kitali will face Marie Ange N’guessan of Côte d’Ivoire in the final to determine the first barebow women’s African Champion.

Competition continues tomorrow in Dhaka with team eliminations.

You can watch the finals live Sunday with a subscription to archery+.

Gold medal matches: Abidjan 2025

The finals are scheduled for Sunday 23 November.

Full results on the event page.

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