Mauritius Archery Ascendant: 17-Year Wait for Gold Culminates in Historic Triumph

Mauritius has sensationally clinched its first-ever African recurve team gold at the Abidjan 2025 African Archery Championships, triumphing over hosts Côte d’Ivoire in a tense tie-break on Sunday.

The trio of Ryan Chan Yam, Nareshwarnathsing Nekitsing, and 17-year-old Aidan William Shiu Fook Sie finally broke a 17-year recurve podium ‘hoodoo’ for the island nation, achieving the historic feat in intensely humid conditions.

Tie-break Thriller Seals Gold

The monumental victory at the Stade Robert Champroux de Marcory came down to a thrilling sudden-death shoot-off against the host nation.

The Mauritian archers—keeping their composure under the bright Ivorian sun—ultimately prevailed after Côte d’Ivoire’s Aka Jean Jacques Rabi Atcho shot a costly low five.

The Mauritian team shot nine, nine, and eight to claim the gold, a remarkable achievement given the intensity and noise of the pro-Ivorian home crowd.

The final was tied after four ends, with a 51-51 score in the fourth end bringing proceedings to an overall deadlock.

Young Shiu Fook Sien‘s second arrow in the shoot-off narrowly landed on the six-line, but the Ivorian team were unable to capitalise.

Quest of Destiny

The path to the final was far from straightforward, with the hardship of the matches described as feeling like a “quest of destiny” for the team.

Prior to the gold medal match, the Mauritians overcame second-seeded Algeria in a tense shoot-off.

This victory reversed the scoreline they had suffered against the same opponents in the Nabeul 2023 semifinals.

Securing the country’s first African recurve medal since the individuals in Cairo 2008 was clearly not enough for the ambitious team.

Sportsmanship and Ivorian Success

In a gesture of sportsmanship, Ivorian competitor Franck Eyeni personally congratulated the Mauritian team after Sien’s winning arrow, presenting each archer with a gift.

Despite the recurve men’s silver, Côte d’Ivoire still enjoyed a successful day in the team finals, securing gold in the recurve women, recurve under-18 men, and barebow mixed team events.

They also took silvers in recurve under-18 women and recurve under-18 mixed, giving the host nation six team podium finishes overall in Abidjan.

The last time Mauritius appeared on a recurve podium at the continental event was in Cairo 2008, when Veronique Le Vieux took bronze in the women’s individual and Jean Marie Cliff Babet achieved the same in the men’s individual.

In addition to the Mauritian recurve men, the Mauritian compound men’s team (Henri How Kemg Fat, Adrien Charoux, Jacques Hok Liong Haw Fan Lun) also won gold in Abidjan.

Source: World Archery