Volleyball
Egypt Retains Africa Nations Cup Title in Africa U-20 Tourney
Egypt beat Rwanda to successfully defend the African U-20 Women’s Volleyball trophy.
Egypt successfully defended their African U20 Women’s Volleyball trophy after beating Rwanda in the finals played yesterday at Kasarani Indoor Stadium in Nairobi.
The champions crashed the East Africans 3-0 to win the nine-team competition that took seven days, where both finalists booked a ticket to fly Africa’s flag at the 2019 Women’s World Championship to be hosted in Mexico.
The other teams that took part in the competition are Uganda, Mauritius, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), hosts Kenya, Nigeria and Cameroon.
With the victory, Egypt earned their eight title out of the last nine editions with Tunisia being the only other side to have won the competition since its inauguration.
Not even the thunderous Rwandan fans could stop the Egyptian girls from controlling the court, taking 25-18. The central African girls tried to fight back but the Egyptians overwhelmed them.
They snatched the second set 25-10 before easing to victory 25-13 breaking the hearts of the Rwandans who were eyeing their first Africa region crown.
Rwanda coach Paul Bitok said it was time to return to the drawing board and has promised a better show in the world championship.
“They were stronger and clinical than us. We still need a few lessons to brush up our skills, but I have complete confidence in my team to do well in Mexico, “he said.
Cameroon beat Nigeria 3-1 in third place playoffs to win the bronze medal while hosts Kenya had to settle for the fifth place after they crushed Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 3-1 while Mauritius finished in position seven dismissing Tanzania in straight set 3-0.
In the road to this year’s edition final, the Egyptians’ game proved too strong for their Nigerian counterparts as they effortlessly beat the West African side 3-0 (25-7, 25-11, 25-8) after full Egyptian dominance.
Rwanda surprised dark horses Cameroon 3-1 (28-26, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22) in the other semifinal to qualify to their first ever African Championship final.
