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

22 July 2026

Oran (Algeria)

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

The 19-year-old also topped qualification last year in Abidjan, 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’sRania 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 recurve men’s qualification 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 champion Adrien Charoux of Mauritiusinto second place.

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 qualified first 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.

Faith Adekogbe of Nigeria topped the barebow women’s field in her first international tournament.

“I’m excited for what lies 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 come back with wins in the mixed team and the women’s teams events with the rest of my teammates.“