11th African Battlegame Championship
11th African Battlegame Championship took place in Salisbury, Rhodesia, between November 10th and December 17th of 2007.
Participants
The following sixteen nations qualified to the championship:
They were partitioned into four groups. Two better teams of each group advanced to the playoffs.
Qualifications
The qualifications did not provide many surprises for someone who knows the fundamentals of African battlegame as all four nations that have been champions of the continent qualified well in the lead of the others. However, Ethiopians and Maghrebans weren‘t very powerful in past decade therefore this may also be considered a surprise and people expected a serious Ethiopian comeback after years of shade. Maasai became a surprise qualifiers managing to leave Upper Nigervolta outside the event.
Results
Group I
Ethiopia-Katanga 8:1
Rhodesia-South West Africa 6:2
South West Africa-Ethiopia 4:4
Katanga-Rhodesia 2:4
South West Africa-Katanga 7:0
Ethiopia-Rhodesia 5:6
- Rhodesia: +4
- Ethiopia: +1
- South West Africa: 0
- Katanga: -5
Ethiopian grand annihilation-like victory over Katanga opened the championship and Ethiopian fans were in awe of their team. But later the tables started to turn as Ethiopia did not manage to beat South West Africa and even lost to Rhodesia, when several Ethiopians went bersrk. Rhodesia, „A team without stars which just works well“, thus secured the first place in the group. South West Africa recovered after initial lose to Rhodesia but neither draw with Ethiopia nor destruction of Katanga helped it to pass through to quarterfinals.
Group IJ
South Africa-Zululand 5:4
Gold Coast-Libya 5:4
Libya-South Africa 2:3
Zululand-Gold Coast 7:8
Libya-Zululand 1:6
South Africa-Gold Coast 4:6
- Gold Coast: +3
- South Africa: +1
- Zululand: 0
- Libya: -4
African champions of 10th cycle South Africa performed well below expectations with hardly=-won victories over Zululand and Libya (Zululand was even leading 3:0 at one time and only heavy strategic offensive saved the South African positions in what was a reinstatement of South African War) and even a lose to Gold Coast which never held the title. Gold Coast, on the other hand, was known to be a good team, with Obasanjo leading it, but it still overperformed. Zululand was another surprise putting up heavy fights against both South Africa and Gold Coast and sending Libya down the drain. Many believe the top three teams were nearly equal in this group, although Gold Coast fans don‘t agree here.
Group IIJ
Egypt-Mali 9:6
Kongo-Madagascar 7:1
Madagascar-Egypt 0:8
Mali-Kongo 6:5
Madagascar-Mali 0:4
Egypt-Kongo 5:2
- Egypt: +6
- Mali: +1
- Kongo: -1
- Madagascar: -6
Egypt more than fulfilled its role as World champion of the 10th cycle. Three decisive victories and other teams had no chances, always trailing behind from the very first round. „Our team is the best there ever was“ – said Egyptian coach Nasser, who was leading a grand team consisting mostly of world champions and world-level aces. War for the second place was far more interesting, with Kongo and Mali both winning against Madagascar decisively.
Group IIIJ
Maghreb-Maasai 6:4
Chinese East Africa-Came Rao 5:3
Came Rao-Maghreb 5:5
Maasai-Chinese East Africa 4:5
Came Rao-Maasai 6:6
Maghreb-Chinese East Africa 5:4
- Maghreb: +2
- Chinese East Africa: +1
- Came Rao: -1
- Maasai: -2
In the Group IIIJ teams were the most close to each other and results wer quite high with most teams choosing strategic offensives. Maghreb and Chinese East Africa went through. Maasai, as always, put up a heavy fight despit erepresenting a small country. Although this time they did not manage to surprise by going through to quarterfinals, defeating Maasais is always a job for the strong.
Playoffs
Quarterfinals:
Rhodesia-South Africa 6:5
Egypt-Chinese East Africa 7:3
Gold Coast-Ethiopia 6:7
Maghreb-Mali 3:6
While Rhodesia used to be regarded as a „little sister“ of stronger South Africa, this time, playing at home, it managed to defeat its older sibling, but only in the final round. This meant there will be no South Africa in the World Championship. Egypt yet again found no problems as it decissively beaten Chinese East Africa, still tired after heavy war in the group. Yet again never during the game Egypt‘s opponents were in the lead. Ethiopian coach saved himself from possibly violent attacks when he managed to defeat Gold Coast, while Mali surprisingly easily destroyed Maghreb.
Semifinals:
Rhodesia-Egypt 4:5
Ethiopia-Mali 5:7
5-8 places:
South Africa-Chinese East Africa 6:2
Gold Coast-Maghreb 6:4
Rhodesia shown that its victories were definitely not a coincidence and this team, known now for good strategies, managed to fight back Egyptian stars up to 18th round. Even such a loss was taken as a victory by Rhodesian fans as, after all, Rhodesia was in the World Championship. Ethiopian fans did not take their teams defeat to Mali so lightly, as for Ethiopians it is customary to require victory in African championships from their team. On the battles for the 5th place, South Africa won decisively.
Final:
Egypt-Mali 7:6
For 3rd place:
Rhodesia-Ethiopia 7:1
For 5th place:
South Africa-Gold Coast 5:6
For 7th place:
Chinese East Africa-Maghreb 0:5
Egypt victory over Mali wasn‘t a surprise, but it definitely was a surpirse how hard the victory was. Unlike Rhodesia, Mali had no home advantage and this team was quite mediocre so far. After the championship many mali players signed good contracts. Ethiopian side collapsed psychologically after the loss in semi-finals it seems and their annihilation by the Rhodesians triggered riots in Addis Abeba.
Final standings
The final standings of the first eight teams (the first four qualified to the 11th World Battlegame Championship):
- Egypt
- Mali
- Rhodesia
- Ethiopia
- South Africa
- Gold Coast
- Chinese East Africa
- Maghreb
This page was created by Abdul-aziz. |
