Jaballah threw El Shehaby for an ippon to secure his fifth African title and climb above Olympic and world champion Teddy Riner of France to become world number one.

The Tunisian went on to also claim the men's open category crown with a win over Mohammed Amine Tayeb of Algeria.

Jaballah was one of four Tunisians to claim gold in the Mauritian capital, Port Louis, as the three-day event came to a close today.

Fraj Dhouibi defeated home favourite Ayoub Idrissi in the men's under 60kg class, while Hela Ayari and Nihel Cheikh Rouhou claimed wins in the women's under 52kg and over 78kg categories respectively.

The Championships at the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Center were the first to held in Mauritius and saw 204 athletes from 26 countries in attendance from Thursday (June 26) to today.

History-maker Faciel Jaballah (second from left) poses with his African gold medal in Port Louis ©IJF



Mauritius currently has around 1,000 judoka regularly taking to the tatami in 35 clubs and Mauritius Judo Federation (MJF) President, Valère Josian, revealed the MJF will work with the African Judo Union and the International Judo Federation to implement judo programmes at school and on the education curriculum.

Josian also expressed his delight at hosting the event in the country which staged its first African Open meeting in November last year.

"Mauritius is part of Africa but at the same time we are quite far from the mainland," added Josian.

"Transportation is expensive.

"That's why it is important for us to organise the event in our region.

"It is important for our competitors.

"Having the Championships here in Mauritius allowed us to have a bigger delegation.

"Our young competitors could discover what level they need to reach to make their dreams come true."

Of those young competitors, Safouane Attaf was the only home athlete to claim an African title, overcoming Egyptian Ali Rizk Hazem in the final of the men's under 81kg category.

There were also bronze medals for Yassine Moudatir in the under 60kg; Hatim Tagrourti at under 73kg; Imad Abdellaoui at 90kg and El Mehdi Malki in the over 100kg class and open category.

Safouane Attaf (second from left) was the sole home judoka to win an African title in Port Louis ©IJF



Meanwhile on the women's side, Fatima Zahra Chakir at under 57kg; Rizlen Zouak in the under 63kg class and Assmaa Niang in the under 70kg category all claimed bronze medals.

Algeria emerged as the dominant nation of the Championships, securing five continental crowns in Port Louis.

While Lyes Bouyakoub was the only Algerian to claim gold on the men's side, overcoming Egypt's Ramadan Darwish in the under 100kg category, it was in the women's competition that the North African country enjoyed big success.

Ratiba Tariket got the ball rolling by claiming a win over Tunisian Nesira Jlassi in the final of the under 57kg, while Imene Agouar overcame compatriot Souad Belakhal in the under 63kg decider.

The under 78kg crown was won by Kaouthar Oullal, who had too much for Sarah Myriam Mazouz of Gabon, while the open category title was claimed by Sonia Asselah with victory over Tunisian Nihel Cheikh Rouhou.

Olympic and world champion Lucie Decosse of France was a special guest at the African Judo Championships in Mauritius ©IJF



French Olympic and world champion Lucie Decosse was a special guest at the Championships and was impressed by the quality of the action and the organisation on show.

"I really enjoyed to be here," said the recently retired Decosse.

"Throughout my career, I participated in many events, but of course I never saw the African Championships.

"This is a continental Championships and has a real significance.

"Often, when we come from other continents, we think that the African Championships is not so strong but this is actually wrong.

"Many countries were present in Mauritius and the level is pretty good.

"I was here only for the event but it gave me the envy to come back and work more on development."

The 2015 African Judo Championships are scheduled to take place in Librevile, Gabon.

Watch the latest action on Judo TV here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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