Feryal Ashraf gives Egypt its first gold since 2004
Karate player Faryal Ashraf Abdelaziz gave her country Egypt the first gold medal in the Summer Olympics since 2004, after winning the karate weight +61 kg on Saturday.
Feryal Ashraf, 22, beat Azerbaijani Irina Zaretska, the 2018 world champion in the women's weight category -68 kg, with a score of 2-0. Wrestler Karam Gaber was the last athlete to win gold for Egypt in the 2004 Athens edition.
On her way to the precious title, Ashraf achieved two wins, a draw and a loss in the group stage, defeating China's Li Gong 4-0 and then Switzerland's Elena Querchy with the early points advantage Sencho (3-3), and in the third fight she advanced over Iranian Hamid Abbas Ali 6-3 before You lose 7-9. The semi-final ticket was secured by a "brotherly" draw with Algerian Lamia Matoub 0-0.
In the semi-finals, she beat Kazakhstan's Sofia Beroltseva 5-4, before she beat Zaretska, the 2018 world champion in the -68 kg category.
This is Egypt’s sixth medal in the current games, after Ahmed Osama El-Gendy’s silver on Saturday in the modern pentathlon, and the bronze by Saif Issa in the weight of -80 kg and Hedaya Malak in the weight of -57 kg in Taekwondo, and Mohamed El-Sayed Ibrahim “Kisho” in the Greco-Roman wrestling for the weight of 67 kg, And Gianna Farouk Lotfi in Karate -61 kg.
Ashraf finished seventh at the 2018 World Championships and was crowned the 2019 Women's World Champion -68kg and the 2020 African Champion.
Faryal, who started this sport at the age of seven, loves reading and drawing, and she is a pharmacy student, like her compatriot Gianna Farouk.
