Competition at the 2015 All-Africa Games drew to a close in the Republic of Congo’s capital city Brazzaville, with Egypt ending top of the medals table after securing 78 gold medals at the 16-day event.
The final day of action saw the medals being awarded in basketball, handball, football and table tennis, with Egypt in the mix for more titles as they looked to further cement their dominance at this year’s edition of the Games.
Their first triumph came in the men’s handball competition after they saw off a strong challenge from Angola to win the gold medal match 25-23, while there was also success for the host nation as Congo beat Nigeria 32-29 to win bronze.
While Angola were left disappointed with defeat in the final of the men’s event they were left celebrating in the women’s competition after they secured a 33-29 win over Cameroon, with both nations joining Senegal on the podium after they narrowly saw off the challenge of Nigeria 25-24 in the bronze medal match.
There would be a straight battle for golds in the table tennis team events between Egypt and Nigeria and it would be the former who would claim the women’s title to add to Dina Meshref’s victory in the singles competition.
Nigeria would gain revenge by securing gold in the men’s tournament, while the hosts Congo continued to add to their medal haul by winning bronze in both events.
The 10-day basketball competition also drew to a close with a series of exciting matches including Nigeria’s 57-55 win over Mali in the men’s bronze medal match, but the gold would go to Angola after they earned a 83-73 triumph over Egypt.
Meanwhile in the women’s event Mali sealed the title after a comprehensive 73-57 victory over Nigeria, while Angola picked up bronze by overcoming Senegal 53-42.
A dramatic start to the men’s football final saw Moussa Seydi give Senegal a 1-0 lead over Burkina Faso and it proved enough to see his team secure the All-Africa Games title and Nigeria took bronze after a 5-3 win on penalties over Congo.
Ghana took the women’s crown after a strike by Portia Boakye gave them a 1-0 win over Cameroon, while the Ivory Coast beat Nigeria 2-1 to take bronze.
Following the completion of competition Egypt finished one medal shy of the 200 mark having picked up 78 gold, 57 silver and 64 bronze medals, with South African and Algeria finishing well adrift having secured 41 and 40 golds respectively.
This article was republished with permission from the original publisher, Inside the Games.