Although Egypt came out on top in the All-Africa Games in Algeria, there was room for improvement. during the competition. Inas Mazhar assesses what went right and what could have been better Members of the Egyptian Olympic Committee were scheduled to meet last night to evaluate Egypt's results at the ninth All-Africa Games which ended in Algeria. After almost two weeks of often heated battle, Egypt topped the medals table at the All-Africa Games with an overall total of 197 medals -- 74 gold, 63 silver and 60 bronze, ahead of hosts Algeria, which finished with 70 gold, and rivals South Africa which finished third. It was the first time Egypt had taken first place at the All-Africa Games since 1991 when it hosted the tournament. Since then, the Egyptians have been runners-up and once finished third in the medals table. The return of South Africa to the sports world in 1992 following the end of its apartheid policies, and the emergence of new rival powers like Nigeria, Algeria and Tunisia have pulled the rug from under some Egyptian athletes who have won the All-Africa Games five of the nine times it was held. So taking first place in Algeria was described by officials as a fairly remarkable achievement. Going by the expectations set by some federations before the tournament began, Egyptian sports officials were not optimistic about claiming first place. The most they had been hoping for would be that Egypt would finish in the top four. Twenty-three sports were played in Algeria; Egypt participated in all of them. Before the Games, each federation submitted a report speculating what it might do. Some failed in fulfilling what they set out to do while others surprised. Head of the Egyptian delegation at the Games Mahmoud Shukri has prepared a detailed report on all the participating federations. The report praises those who met their objectives "and brought Egypt glory" but will state the failures as well. The report also reviewed the difficulties the delegation faced in Algeria. "I will only submit my report and it is for the National Olympic Committee (NOC) board to take the final decisions concerning rewarding the winners and punishing the losers," Shukri said. NOC Secretary-General Khaled Zein said the Egyptian results were satisfactory. "However, winning first place will not make us forget those who have disappointed us. It is our role to study the reasons behind their unexpected results because we provided every federation with the budget they wanted for the Games. So, now it's time for accountability." That would begin with the swimmers who had thought they would collect six gold, 10 silver and 17 bronze. What they got was not one gold, four silver and six bronze medals for a sixth place finish in the pool behind South Africa, Algeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tunisia. Football was most upsetting, the team losing the three matches it played against Algeria, Zambia and Guinea. The excuse was the poor living conditions in the Olympic Village but it was the site where all the other athletes stayed. The under-23 team is claimed have wanted to return to Cairo instead of vying for a medal. Whatever the validity of the story, the Egyptian Football Association took immediate action, deciding to dissolve the technical staff and suspend three of the team's players from playing internationally including Zamalek's up-and-coming Shikaballa, Ahmed Ghanem Sultan and Enppi's Abdel-Aziz Tawfiq Badminton's dreams were shattered when they promised four medals, but managed just one bronze. Usually, handicapped athletes increase Egypt's harvest of medals, but after a target of 25 medals, the final result was only 10; three gold, two silver and five bronze. Boxing, which gave us three medals in Athens 2004, did not perform the same service in Algeria. Despite promising four gold medals, our boxers won two gold, a silver and two bronze. Rowing had eyed 12 medals including six gold before the event but the federation could only claim eight medals -- two gold, one silver and five bronze. And with one medal less, judo missed its target of eight medals, winning seven. Our weightlifters promised 30 medals but were the talk of Algiers after clinched 40 medals, including 23 gold, 11 silver and six bronze. The result went a long way to pushing Egypt to the fore in the medals table. The team's head coach Fathi Zoreik said Egypt had prepared well for the Games. "We are competing according to a long-term plan which we had set not only for the African Games but for world championships as well as the Olympic Games next year. That's the difference between us and the other countries who are trying to catch up with us," Zoreik said. Chess was also a pleasant surprise and a life saver as the sport notched up 13 medals -- eight gold, four silver and one bronze. The initial forecast was nine medals overall. According to chess expert Khaled Meshaal, the win was unprecedented in the history of Egyptian chess. "For many years, we had lost our position as the kings of the sport, but the results were surprising, even to us, and we're glad we were able to bring the title back to Egypt," Meshaal said. Wrestling was another sport that exceeded expectations. The federation had set a target of 12 medals, but won 16 -- seven of which were gold. The king of the sport was no other than Egypt's Olympic gold medal champion in Athens Karam Gaber who toyed with all his opponents like so many rag dolls on his way to the gold medal. So dominating was Gaber's performance that the referees had to call off some matches because of one-sided games he was a participant to. Hassan Sakr, president of the National Sports Council, said a huge party was being planned to celebrate the Egyptian victory in Algeria. The winning of a gold medal will now be worth LE25,000 instead of the original LE15,000. Silver medallists will be awarded LE15,000 while the bronze medallists will claim LE10,000. The Games were a good warm-up for the Pan-Arab Games scheduled to be held in November in Cairo. The 10th All-Africa Games is scheduled to be held in Zambia in 2011.
