Azerbaijan are tops, Uganda 33rd as Islamic Solidarity Games end

It was all Turkey in the tennis as Altug Celikbilek and Ayla Aksu clinched golds in the singles finals to complete a clean sweep for their country having already won the two doubles and two team titles.

Celikbilek needed plenty of perseverance against compatriot Yuksel Anil, but he eventually wore his opponent down 6-4, 6-4 with consistent groundstrokes and a booming serve

Aksu thrashed Berfu Cengiz 6-3, 6-2 in the women’s final – another all-Turkish duel – just one day after the duo won doubles gold together.

It was a relatively quiet end to competition following 11 days of intense action which left many claiming that these had been the best Islamic Solidarity Games yet to be staged.

Hosts Azerbaijan, like Saudi Arabia (2005) and Indonesia (2013) before them, were worthy champions, but Turkey can look forward with genuine optimism.

The next Solidarity Games will be held in Istanbul in 2021.

Medals table

Rank	Country
1		Azerbaijan	75	50	37	162
2		Turkey	71	67	57	195
3		Iran	39	26	33	98
4		Uzbekistan	15	17	31	63
5		Bahrain	12	5	4	21
6		Algeria	7	12	21	40
7		Morocco	7	5	15	27
8		Indonesia	6	29	23	58
9		Egypt	6	5	7	18
10		Kyrgyzstan	4	5	8	17
11		Saudi Arabia	4	1	6	11
12		Jordan	3	1	11	15
13		Iraq	2	7	5	14
14		Kazakhstan	2	5	12	19
15		Turkmenistan	2	4	7	13
16		Qatar	2	3	7	12
17		Nigeria	2	3	1	6
18		Syrian Arab Republic	2	2	6	10
19		Tunisia	1	3	8	12
20		Cameroon	1	2	6	9
21		Bangladesh	1	1	1	3
21		Senegal	1	1	1	3
23		Gambia	1	1	0	2
24		Benin	1	0	1	2
24		Guinea-Bissau	1	0	1	2
24		Mozambique	1	0	1	2
27		Pakistan	0	3	9	12
28		Oman	0	3	4	7
29		United Arab Emirates	0	1	3	4
30		Guyana	0	1	2	3
30		Suriname	0	1	2	3
32		Djibouti	0	1	1	2
33		Mali	0	1	0	1
33		Uganda	0	1	0	1
35		Afghanistan	0	0	6	6
36		Côte d’Ivoire	0	0	4	4
36		Tajikistan	0	0	4	4
38		Malaysia	0	0	2	2
38		Yemen	0	0	2	2
40		Lebanon	0	0	1	1
41		Albania	0	0	0	0
41		Brunei Darussalam	0	0	0	0
41		Burkina Faso	0	0	0	0
41		Chad	0	0	0	0
41		Comoros	0	0	0	0
41		Gabon	0	0	0	0
41		Guinea	0	0	0	0
41		Maldives	0	0	0	0
41		Mauritania	0	0	0	0
41		Niger	0	0	0	0
41		Palestine	0	0	0	0
41		Sierra Leone	0	0	0	0
41		Somalia	0	0	0	0
41		Togo	0	0	0	0