PLAISANCE Secondary School amassed a total of 134 points from the 11 sporting events of this year’s fifth edition of the School Holiday Games (Holympics), which ended on Friday August 23, to finish as the grand winners.

It was Mr Patrick Nanty, principal secretary in the Ministry of Local Government Sports and Culture (MLGSC), who had the honour of presenting Jude Ally, the championship's best footballer, with the winners' floating shield.

Also present on Friday August 23 closing ceremony were Mr Alain Volcère, principal secretary in the Ministry of Education and Youth, Mr Hugh Adam, managing director of the National Sports Council (NSC), and other officials of the MLGSC.

Plaisance was followed in second position by Mont Fleuri who managed to accumulate 98 points, while Anse Boileau was third with 10 points less (88 points).

On the final day's programme of the school holiday games, which were officially opened on Saturday August 17 at Stad Popiler by Male Young Athlete of the Year 2001 Marvis Confait, were table tennis, football and basketball finals.

In table tennis, Dean Onezime of Plaisance Primary School won the boys’ U12 division ahead of schoolmates Laurence Banane and Ian Reddy who finished in the second and third positions respectively.

The boys’ U12 category attracted 16 competitors and they were divided into four pools comprising four players each.

The girls’ U12 competition, which was played on a round-robin format, was won by Angèle Landry of Anse Aux Pins, while schoolmate Hazel Robert was second. Third place went to Diane Estro of Plaisance.

Only three competitors participated in the girls’ U12 tournament.

The boys’ U16 gold medal went to Archille Dodin of Anse Boileau after collecting a 3-1 (11-9 4-11 11-7 11-8) win over Ronny Sopha of Anse Royale in the final.

In the ladies’ final of the same age category, Wendy Julie from Plaisance came from a set down to eliminate Annick Tirant of Mont Fleuri on a 3-1 (9-11 11-4 11-6 11-7) score.

In handball , Mont Fleuri had to work very hard to beat a determined Plaisance on a tight 10-9 score to win the tournament’s gold medal in the boys’ U18 final.

The girls of Anse Royale made easy meat of their opponents from Anse Boileau whom they outscored 11-5 in the other U18 division final.

Mont Fleuri again dominated the boys’ U15 category with an easy 10-6 win over Pointe Larue, whereas the U15 Plaisance team overpowered Pointe Larue 15-1.

Anse Etoile girls and Mont Fleuri boys were the winners of the U12 category after they both won their respective final.

In the boys’ final, Mont Fleuri beat neighbours Plaisance 6-4 while Anse Etoile defeated Plaisance 8-2.

The U18 11-a-side football tournament was won by Plaisance following its big 4-0 victory over Mont Fleuri in the final. Praslin went home with the bronze medal after walking over Beau Vallon in the third place play-off.

In basketball, Praslin condemned English River to second place with a 32-27 victory in the girls’ U18 final. The English River boys could do no better than their female counterparts by losing 24-28 to Anse Boileau.

During Friday August 23 closing ceremony, prizes were also awarded to overall best performers in the different disciplines.

Below is the list of the overall best performers.

Football – Jude Ally of Plaisance, handball – Telma Sauzier of Anse Royale (girl) and Curtis Esther of Mont Fleuri (boy), cycling – Alex Savy of Anse Boileau, basketball – Sherine Félicie of Anse Boileau (girl) and Jean-Paul Corgat of English River (boy), volleyball – Terryl Songoire of Mont Fleuri (girl) and Peter Benoit of Mont Fleuri (boy), netball – Rea Hoareau of Plaisance, boxing – Antoine Dufresne of English River, table tennis – Archille Dodin of Anse Boileau (boy) and Wendy Julie of Plaisance.

It is to be noted that the Holympics, which were officially launched in 1997, are organised by the Youth Sports Development Unit in the National Sports Council (NSC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government, Sports and Culture (MLGSC), the Physical Education/Extra Curricular Activities Unit in the Ministry of Education and Youth, and local federations and associations.

The aims of the Holympics are to provide the youths of Seychelles with the opportunity to do sports so as to stay away from the negative influences of society.

The participants, who competed in the different sporting activities which spanned over a week, did so in pursuit of excellence and in the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship.