The match was closely fought. Mozambique took a two point lead in the first quarter, but by half time Ivory Coast was winning by 28-27. Ivory Coast gained a further five points in the third quarter, bringing the score to 44-38.
The Mozambicans fought back in the final quarter, and four minutes from the end the teams were tied on 45-45. A final push won the Mozambican team victory by four points. Now the Mozambicans face Algeria in Friday’s semi-final.
In the other three quarter finals, Algeria beat Cape Verde (73-65), Angola beat Rwanda (64-59) and Nigeria beat Egypt (72-59). The other semi-final will thus be played between Angola and Nigeria.
In the men’s handball tournament, Mozambique went down to a heavy defeat at the hands of Nigeria (50-21). In a close fought game, Cameroon beat Congo (20-18).
In the other two matches, Angola beat Senegal (28-19), and Egypt beat Algeria (22-17). The final will be fought between Angola and Egypt on Saturday, while Senegal will play against Nigeria for the bronze medal.
In the semi finals of the women’s handball, Congo beat Cameroon 21-16, while Angola beat Algeria by 32-18. The final, between Angola and Congo will also take place on Saturday.
On the tennis court, in the men’s doubles, the remaining Mozambican pair, Felicano dos Santos and Isac Jorge, lost in the third round to Ando Rasolomalala and Jacob Rasolondrazana of Madagascar, in two sets (4-0, 4-1).
The Madagascan players then fell in the quarter finals to Karin Maamoun and Sheriff Sabry of Egypt, also in two sets (6-2, 64).
Later on Thursday, in the semi-finals, the Egyptian pair fell to Candy Idoko and Lawal Shehu of Nigeria in straight sets (6-3, 6-4). In the other semi-final, Clifford Enosoregbe and Onyeka Mbanu of Namibia beat Mark Flynn and Takanyi Garangaga of Zimbabwe by two sets to one (6-4, 2-6, 10-5).
The final, between the Nigerian and Namiban pairs, will be played on Friday afternoon.
In the women’s singles semi-finals, Chanel Simmonds of South Africa beat the Tunisian Nour Abbes 6-1, 6-2, and a second Tunisian, Ons Jabeur, beat Mayar Sherif of Egypt 6-2, 7-5.
The two Tunisians came together in the semi-finals of the women’s doubles to beat Assie Halo and Samia Medjahdi of Algeria. The Tunisian pair won the first set 6-2, and was leading 3-0 in the second set when their opponents retired.
In the other semi-final, Magy Aziz and Mayar Sherif of Egypt beat the South African pair Natasha Fourouclas and Chanel Simmonds by two sets to one (6-2, 6-7, 10-8).
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