Oran 2026: Abdelkader tops recurve women’s field for second year in a row

Tunisia’s Roua Ben Abdelkader topped the recurve women’s qualifying field at the Oran 2026 African Archery Championships in Algeria on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old also topped qualification last year at the Abidjan 2025 African Archery Championships, where she would go on to finish with individual silver.

In hot, dry and very windy conditions, she shot 588, 27 points clear of Algeria‘s Rania Hachani in second place. “It wasn't really a very easy task to shoot a good score, but I managed to finish qualification to the best of my abilities, even if during training I shot a lot more. It's a good feeling,” she said.

The experienced Bahaaeldin Aly of Egypt led the recurve men‘s field with 634; it was his second visit to the city after competing at the Mediterranean Games in 2022. Defending champion Franck Eyeni, after admitting to a difficult year, was down in 11th place. 

Namibia’s Elisabeth Taljaard topped the compound women’s field in the afternoon session with 651, ahead of teammate Jacqueline Coetzee who had already had a busy morning on the field coaching no less than four para archers.

“It's a privilege to be ranked first,” said Taljaard. “It does not come easy, but with hard work and dedication, it makes it worth it.”

The compound men’s field was also led by another Namibian, Jannie Meuwesen, pushing last year‘s winner Adrien Charoux of Mauritius into the second seed spot. 

In the recurve men’s under-18 competition, Egypt‘s Ismail Ezzeldin – just 16 – claimed a new African record with 650, smashing his own mark of 621 by a huge 29 points. 

In the barebow competition, Francios Hendrik De Jager seeded top in barebow men with 614. The 51-year-old, the sole competing representative of South Africa at these championships, was the only athlete to break the 600 mark.

The barebow women‘s field was topped by Faith Adekogbe of Nigeria in her first international tournament. “I'm excited for what is ahead,” said the 29-year-old, leading a four-strong barebow women‘s entry from the country.

“I would approach my matches very level-headed. I would approach them with concentration on all of my basics. I came here, you know, with the goal of getting a really high score, with the goal of locking in on all my shots.”

“I'm looking forward to having a great elimination session and also to also come back with wins in the mixed team and the women's teams events with the rest of my teammates.“

Top seeds: 2026 African Archery Championships

Recurve men: Bahaaeldin Aly, Egypt – 634
Recurve women: Roua Ben Abdelkader, Tunisia – 588
Compound men: Jannie Meuwesen, Namibia – 698
Compound women: Elisabeth Taljaard, Namibia – 651 
Barebow men: Francios Hendrik De Jager, South Africa – 614  
Barebow women: Faith Adekogbe, Nigeria – 482 
Para compound men: Aliou Drame, Senegal – 666 
Para recurve men: Abdelkader Izri, Algeria – 493 
Para compound women: Saimi Naango Shilunga, Namibia – 474