It was a day of double delight for host nation Côte D’Ivoire as they won both recurve men’s and women’s individual gold medal matches at the Abidjan 2025 African Archery Championships.
Following the conclusion of the morning team finals – where the Ivorians also took gold in recurve women, recurve men under-18 and barebow mixed team categories – the Pretoria 2022 champion Anne-Marie Yedagne went into the recurve women’s final backed by a vociferous crowd but perhaps the underdog based off qualifications.
The 22-year-old athlete shockingly dropped 579 in Friday’s qualifications, moving her down to seventh in the seedings, while her opponent today, Roua Ben Abdelkader, was in the bracket’s pole position with her 610.
Given the Tunisian’s age at 18, was this going to be déjà vu from Pretoria when Yedagne was a teenage talent and conquered the African continent?
No way.
Yedagne’s shooting wasn’t perfect but it didn’t have to be, as nerves certainly hindered Ben Abdelkader’s progress in the face of the target – at least it would seem for a mental battle like archery.
It was the beginning and the end that would point to this sentiment.
In the opening set – usually the most difficult of a match – Yedagne shot two 8s and a 9 to make 25. A respectable three arrows but not a barnstorming group. Ben Abdelkader, however, instantly put all the pressure on herself by scoring a high and wide left trio of 6, 7, 7.
A chat with her coach and a slight tweak on her sight seemed to make a world of difference as the Nabeul 2023 women’s team runner-up then carried on the rest of the match far more convincingly, getting 27, 26, 24, 29 in the following four ends.
