Egypt's Olympic bronze medallist Mohamed El-Sayed won the men's 67kg African Wrestling Championships title in Hammamet ©Getty Images

Egypt and Algeria shared the men’s Greco-Roman titles at the African Wrestling Championships after Nigeria captured six women’s freestyle golds in Hammamet.

Olympic bronze medallist Mohamed El-Sayed was among Egypt’s five Greco-Roman gold medallists at the Hammamet Indoor Sports Hall in the Tunisian town.

El-Sayed marked his return to the event with victory in the men’s 67 kilogram category, beating Algeria’s Ishak Ghaiou in the final.

Ibrahim Bunduka made history by becoming the first Greco-Roman wrestler from Sierra Leone to make a final in the African Championships, but he came unstuck against Egypt’s Haithem Mahmoud who secured the men’s 60kg crown.

It was Mahmoud’s third African title and first since 2020.

Egypt’s other gold-medal winners were Mohamed Ali Gabr, Abdellatif Mohamed and Mohamed Zahab Khalil.

Ali Gabr swept to the men’s 97kg title, Mohamed captured the men’s 130kg crown and Zahab Khalil clinched men’s 77kg gold.

Algeria also starred in the men’s Greco-Roman event, winning the other five gold medals on offer.

Abdeldjebar Djebbari secured a third successive African title with victory over Egypt’s Ahmad Baghduda in the men’s 63kg final.

Abdelmalek Merabet and Bachir Sid Azara also overcame Egyptian opponents in the final to top the standings in the respective men’s 72kg and men’s 87kg categories.

Sid Azara defeated Emad Abouelatta to win his fifth African crown, while Merabet captured his first after seeing off Mohamed Yehia Abdelkader.

Abdelkrim Ouakali defended his men’s 72kg title with victory over Morocco’s Elias Chiguer, while Mohamed Yacine Dridi emerged victorious from his men’s 55kg gold-medal bout against Tunisia’s Adem Lamloum.

There were three Tunisian winners in the women’s freestyle event with Siwar Bousetta. Marwa Amri and Khadija Jlassi making home advantage count against Nigerian challengers in the final.

Bousetta beat Patience Opuene to seal women’s 59kg gold, Amri took down Esther Kolawole to clinch the women’s 62kg title and Jlassi secured victory over Ebipatei Mughenbofa to top the podium in the women’s 65kg division.

Blessing Oborududu, right, was among six Nigerian freestyle wrestlers to capture gold medals at the African Championships ©Getty Images
Blessing Oborududu, right, was among six Nigerian freestyle wrestlers to capture gold medals at the African Championships ©Getty Images

Egypt also picked up a gold medal, with Samar Hamza beating Nigeria’s Hannah Rueben to retain the women’s 76kg crown.

Olympic silver medallist Blessing Oborududu led Nigeria’s charge by winning a record-extending 13th African title.

The 34-year-old proved too strong for Egypt’s Samah Abdellatif in the women’s 68kg final to seal top spot.

Having skipped the past three editions, Nigeria’s Mercy Genesis came back to triumph at the tournament for the fourth time, beating Algeria’s Cheima Chebila to win the women’s 50kg title.

Nigeria’s other four gold medals were won by Jumoke Adekoye in the women’s 53kg category, Mercy Abekuoroye in the women’s 57kg division, Ebi Biogos in the women’s 72kg class and Christianah Ogunsanya in the women’s 53kg section.

Competition is due to conclude tomorrow with 10 men’s freestyle categories set to be contested.