Alwande Sikhosana and Leon Els are through to the semi-finals at the African Para Games after serving up victory after victory both as individual players and as a team.
Accra, Ghana (08 September 2023) — The African Para Games started off strongly for Team South Africa after our women’s wheelchair basketball team secured a kickstarting win for SA at the Games while following suit in wheelchair tennis, players Alwande Sikhosana and Leon Els have served up victory after victory.
Starting off with power shots, Sikhosana secured a clean victory over Albert Churu (6-0, 6-0) while Els defeated Daniel Laryea 6-1, 6-0.
Sikhosana and Els both saw incredible triumphs with Sikhosana beating Terlumun Ukaria 6-4, 6-3 as Els beat Alex Adewale 6-4, 6-0. This is not surprising given the South African players’ ranking in wheelchair tennis is among the best of the best (Sikhosana is ranked the top player on the continent).
Both talents also teamed up for a nail-biting doubles match where the result was (you guessed it) a victory—6-1, 6-3 against Adelwale and Ukari.
Now, Sikhosana and Els are both through to today’s semi-finals and a little closer to qualifying for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Meanwhile, in other sports fixtures at the African Para Games, the wheelchair basketball events have been on a winning path with the women’s wheelchair basketball team earning a 100% win record from all their fixtures beating Zambia, Ghana and Morocco.