Teenager Ben Abdelkader beats Olympian Sylla to pole in Abidjan
Tunisia’s Roua Ben Abdelkader topped the recurve women’s qualifying field at the 2025 African Archery Championships in Abidjan on Thursday.
The 18-year-old beat the likes of Paris 2024 Olympian Fatoumata Sylla – who shot 582 – to take pole position at the Stade Robert Champroux de Marcory, scoring 610 across 72 arrows.
She was one of only three recurve women to break 600, with home favourite Prisca Kossia and Kenya’s Kuki Anwar shooting 605 and 603, respectively.
The hot, humid conditions in Côte d’Ivoire may have prevented the 17 athletes in the category from threatening Kirstin Lewis’ African record of 639 – but young Ben Abdelkader will not mind one bit.
Temperatures peaked just over 30 degrees Celsius during the day, and as they rose, so did she, in only her second senior international competition.
Her first came at the Nabeul 2023 African Archery Championships in her home country of Tunisia, where she came close to a maiden individual medal. Two years ago, she lost to Jana Ali in the semifinals and then to former teammate Rihab Elwalid in the bronze medal match. The pair had won silver together in the women’s team event in Nabeul, before Elwalid went on to represent Qatar.
Ben Abdelkader was just 16 at the time. Although Thursday’s score gives her an excellent chance of reaching the final this time around in Abidjan, there is still work to be done to see whether she has matured on the shooting line.
In the recurve men’s event, Ivorian archer Franck Eyeni will hope to bring medal glory on home soil after finishing atop the 25 entries with 631.
The top seed was always likely to come from either him or Mauritius’ Ryan Chan Yam, who shot 630, with the pair clear of the field. The next closest was Algeria’s Yacine Imloul on 612.
In compound, another Mauritian, Adrien Charoux, took first place in the men’s category with 675 after 72 arrows, while Egypt’s Nora Elsabagh topped the women’s with 652.
Competition at the African Archery Championships continues in Abidjan on Friday with individual eliminations.
Watch live footage of the finals on Sunday 23 November with a subscription to archery+.
Top seeds: 2025 African Championships
Recurve men: Franck Eyeni, Côte d’Ivoire – 631
Recurve women: Roua Ben Abdelkader, Tunisia – 610
Compound men: Adrien Charoux, Mauritius – 675
Compound women: Nora Elsabagh, Egypt – 652
