The men’s doubles competition reached the point where there was no room left for a quiet finish. On 19 September at Aero Beach, the quarter-finals and semi-finals brought long rallies, changing momentum and some very close games as the remaining pairs fought for a place in the final.
Benin’s Oswald Fano-Dosh and Carlos Kpanou had already made their presence felt in the earlier rounds, but the quarter-final against Algeria’s M. Kessari and S. Kiouar presented a different challenge.
Algeria started the match well, taking the opening game 9–4. Benin did not allow the early setback to affect them, responding with a 9–4 win of their own in the second game. The third was much closer, with Benin eventually edging it 11–9 before finding greater control in the fourth game and closing out the match 9–1.
The 3–1 victory sent Fano-Dosh and Kpanou into the semi-finals, where another Egyptian challenge was waiting.
Abdelsattar and Ashraf A. made the semi-final a contest that kept moving from one side to the other. Benin took the first game 9–5, but Egypt fought back in the second, winning 12–10 after a tight battle.
Egypt then moved ahead by taking the third game 9–7. Benin, however, refused to let the match go. They produced their strongest response of the contest in the fourth, winning 9–3 and forcing a deciding fifth game.
With a place in the final on the line, Benin managed to find the points that mattered most. Fano-Dosh and Kpanou won the fifth game 9–7 to complete a 3–2 victory and secure their place in the final.
The other semi-final was just as demanding. Egypt’s M. Hesham Hassan and A. Salah faced NOC-Kenya’s Sammy Mdogo Sikoyo and Edwin Akwanyi after the Kenyan pair had impressed throughout the earlier rounds.
NOC-Kenya had already shown its ability to handle pressure, but Egypt started strongly in the semi-final, taking the opening game 9–5. The Kenyan pair responded in the second, edging Egypt 12–10.
Egypt regained the lead with a 9–7 third game and then moved within one game of the final after taking the fourth 9–3. NOC-Kenya kept fighting, but Egypt closed out the fifth game 9–7 to win 3–2.
The result set up an all-Egypt versus Benin final, with both pairs having survived five-game semi-finals on their way to the last match.
For Benin, Fano-Dosh and Kpanou had overcome Algeria and Egypt to reach the final. For Egypt, the route had included a hard-fought victory over NOC-Kenya. Both pairs had been tested, and both had found a way through.
With the final now decided, attention at Aero Beach turned to the last battle of the men’s doubles competition.
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