Team Nigeria wrapped up the 2025 African Fencing Championship on a high note, celebrating a historic first-ever victory in the women’s epee team event. The win, which came in a thrilling classification bout against the Benin Republic, secured a fifth-place finish for the Nigerian team — their best result yet in the competition.
The five-day tournament, hosted at Charterhouse, Lagos, drew over 120 fencers from 18 African countries. Egypt, the fencing powerhouse of the continent, once again topped the medals table with an impressive haul of 11 gold, five silver, and five bronze medals.
While Egypt’s dominance was expected, all eyes were on Team Nigeria’s young epee stars — Somtochukwu Eribenne, Sara Idongesit, and Adebodunirin Thomas — who bounced back from a quarterfinal defeat by Algeria to beat Benin Republic 45-40 in a spirited contest.
Speaking after the match, an emotional Thomas described the win as a major morale booster. “We are excited to win our first game and also finish in the top five in the event,” she said. “We worked together as a team, and our coach helped us to put up a good fight. This will surely help our confidence going into the next competition.”
In the men’s team foil event, Egypt cemented their supremacy, defeating Angola 45-23 in the final. The Egyptian squad — featuring Abdelrahman Tolba, Karim Medhat, Mohamed Hamza, and Sief Elghayesh — had earlier breezed past Nigeria with a 45-9 semifinal victory.
Angola, who staged a dramatic 45-44 comeback win over Algeria in their semifinal, earned their first-ever podium finish in the event. Led by Tomas Pedro and teammates Valter Barros, Francisco Manuel, and Luis Macedo, the Angolan side showed grit and resilience despite falling to Egypt in the final.
Controversy marked the women’s team epee final between Egypt and Algeria, which ended abruptly at 6-6 after Algeria refused to continue, resulting in a P. Black decision in favour of Egypt. Egypt also captured the gold in the women’s team sabre, narrowly edging Algeria 45-40 in a tense final. The winning squad included Alanoud Hegazy, Nada Hafez, Nagwa Nofal, and Renad Eldoksh.
Behind Egypt on the medals table, Kenya came second with one gold, while Tunisia placed third with two silvers and two bronze medals. Algeria finished fourth with one silver and six bronze, followed by Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa, each claiming a silver and bronze. Angola earned a silver, while Morocco, Cape Verde, and Senegal each went home with a bronze medal.
The Nigeria Fencing Federation, hosts of the championship, were widely praised for their organisation of the event — which featured 12 categories across five action-packed days.
With the dust now settled, Team Nigeria’s breakthrough performance in the women’s epee has signaled a new dawn for the sport in the country, as the team looks ahead to future competitions with renewed confidence and ambition.
