Tunisia and Morocco Lead Pools at Men’s Continental Volleyball Cup

2016 CAVB Men’s Continental Volleyball Cup- Day 2

Tunisia and Morocco led the preliminary round Pool after Day 2 of the 2016 CAVB Men’s Continental Cup held in Kelibia, Tunisia on Friday.

Tunisia led Pool A as they finished their matches with a win- loss ratio of 4-0 after they beat Egypt 2-1, Rwanda 2-1, Sierra Leone 2-0 and Gambia 2-0 to secure the top position of the pool before the 2 final matches of the preliminary round Sierra Leone v Rwanda and Gambia v Egypt.

Big spectator attendance

Rwanda and Sierra Leone came second both with 2-1 record as Rwanda started with a defeat against Tunisia 1-2, then they had 2 victories against Gambia 2-0 and Egypt 2-0. Sierra Leone beat Gambia 2-1 and Egypt 2-1 before losing against Hosts Tunisia 0-2.

Both Egypt and Gambia lost their 3 matches (0-3) to play for the last 2 places in the pool.

Morocco led Pool B with three straight wins against Angola 2-1, Ghana 2-1 and Mozambique 2-1. Ghana came second with 3-1 in 4 matches as they beat Cote d’Ivoire 2-0 and then lost against Morocco before they came back with 2 wins against Burundi 2-0 and Mozambique 2-1.

Tunisia spectators celebrate

Angola had 2-1 win loss ratio in 3 matches with a loss against Morocco and 2 victories over Burundi 2-0 and Cote d’Ivoire 2-0.

The preliminary round matches will be finalised on Saturday where each of the preliminary pool will be ranked and the top 2 in each qualify to the semifinal and the teams ranked 3rd and 4th play for 5 to 8 positions.

The winners of the Men’s Continental Cup will book a ticket to Rio Olympic Games, while the 2ns and 3rd will qualify for the World Cup where they will have another chance to qualify to the Olympics with the other confederations.

Gambia In Intense Build Up To CAVB Continental Cup in Tunisia

2016 CAVB Men’s Beach Volleyball Continental Cup

Gambia men’s beach volleyball team put the final touches of preparations for the 2016 CAVB Men’s Continental Cup to be held in Kelibia, Tunisia May 3 to 9, 2016.

‘’When we won the silver medal at the Second round of the Continental Cup Group B events in Ivory Coast last November, my players had writing down their plans for the final stages of the Continental Cup and we are optimistic of making it to the Olympics Games in Rio,” said the head coach of the Gambia team Sergeant Lamin F. Bargie as he prepares for the finals of the CAVB continental cup.

Gambia men team are in a concentrated training camp for 3 months as they hit for the historical journey to Tunisia, this is the first time the Country went this far to one of the biggest beach volleyball event in Africa. When the Gambia men team won silver at the sub-zonal in Dakar in January 2015, and went on to make history in Abidjan, the country was anticipated as one of the best beach volleyball nations in Africa. Today the Gambia men team is ranked 10th in the continent with a culmination points of 1507.5. At the Tunisia final The Gambia is drawn in pool A along with host Tunisia, Sierra Leon, Rwanda, Ivory Coast and Kenya.

Reacting to this draw Coach Bargie said they are ready to face any team at the tournament. “we might be the minnows but our strength, experience, determination and love for the game will inspire us to make upsets”. This is my first assignment as a beach volleyball coach, notwithstanding, the players are well experienced, Sanu Secka played at the All African Games in 2011 and Malick Jammeh and Babucarr Jarra were also at the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville, so that sums it up that we are not new to the game anymore. However Bargie was delighted that his team is not in the same pool with Angola and Mozambique.

“I feel proud to represent The Gambia at the Continental cup finals in Tunisia, but at the same time this a challenge to us,” Malick Jammeh admitted. “I am hopeful that we will get a good result out there. We need support and prayers from all Gambians. The Olympics is a life time achievement for all athletes therefore we want to be Olympians.” Jammeh stated.

Gambia Men Baech Volleyball team at the Continental Cup Round 2 in Abidjan.

Gambia team is composed of Players: Malick Jammeh (Old Jeshwang), Babucarr Jarra (Old Jeshwang), Sanu Secka (Gamtel/Gamcel), Alieu Barry (GAF), beside Lamin F Bargie, Coach/Head of Delegation

Competition Format

The 2016 continental cup men’s finals will be competed between 12 nations that is host Tunisia, Sierra Leon, Rwanda, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Angola, Mozambique, Burundi, Egypt and Morocco. Each pool is played in round robin format to determine places from 1 to 6.

Matches will be played according to the best of three matches per tie, with best of three sets. The eventual winners of the finals will get the right to participate in the beach volleyball tournament of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. While the 2nd and 3rd National Federations will qualify for the FIVB World Olympic qualifiers for all the FIVB Confederations, forming a total of 10 countries all competing for the last 2 places in the Rio Olympics Games.

Muhammed L. Saidykhan,
GVBF Press Officer

Egypt’s Ahly Crowned African Women Volleyball Champions For The Eighth Time

2016 Women’s African Club VOLLEYBALL Championship- Final

Ahly of Egypt set double achievements as they keep the title of the 2016 Women’s African Championship home following their victory over organisers Carthage of Tunisia 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-13) in the competition final held at Sidi Bousaid in Tunis, Tunisia on Saturday.

Beside the cup Ahly broke the competition record with 8 crowns under their name, against 7 for their arch rivals Kenya Pipeline who earned 7 titles. Ahly raised their total no of medals to 19 with 8 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Carthage Of Tunisia

The Tunisian champions who have 8 National team players in their squad, achieved their best ever finish in their history with the silver medal after their third position in the 2015 podium.

Pipeline (KEN) overcame Revenue Authority (RWA) 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-22 , 25-17) in the bronze medal match. The Kenyans claimed their 16th medal with 7 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze.

Egypt’s Shams finished 5th after they beat Sfax of Tunisia 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-17), while Kenya Prisons won the 7th place after they cruised past Algeria’s GSP 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19).

Egypt’s Ahly crowned African Women Volleyball Champions for the eighth time

Individual Awards
BEST SERVER Revenue (RWA) NZAYISENGA CHARLOT
BEST RECIEVER Carthage (TUN) FATMA KTARI
BEST SETTER Ahly (EGY) SHOUROUK MAHMOUD
BEST ATTACKER Ahly (EGY) AYA HAMDI ABDELMAKSOUD
BEST BLOCKER Pipeline (KEN) MAKUTO MMOCHI
BEST LIBERO Ahly (EGY) Mariem Abdelkader
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Ahly (EGY) AYA HAMDI ABDELMAKSOUD

Final Standings
1. Ahly (Egypt)
2. Carthage (Tunisia)
3. Pipeline (Kenya)
4. Revenue Authority (Rwanda)
5. El Shams (Egypt)
6. Sfax (Tunisia)
7. Prisons (Kenya)
8. GSP (Algeria)
9. Wilaya Bejaia (Algeria)
10. FAP (Cameroon)
11. Mechaal Bejaia (Algeria)
12. Injis (Cameroon)
13. Ndejji (Uganda)
14. Jos South (Nigeria)
15. Bafia (Cameroon)
16. Police (Ghana)
17. Ndella (Gabon)

Women’s African Club Volleyball Championship Down To Final 4

2016 Women’s African Club Championship- Quarterfinal

Organisers Carthage (Tunisia), Pipelines (Kenya), defending Champions Ahly and dark horses Revenue Authority (Rwanda) claimed the semifinal tickets of the 2016 Women’s African Club Championship following their victories in the quarterfinal matches in Tunis, Tunisia on Thursday.

Revenue attacks

Now Carthage face Pipeline in a thrilling face off at the competition semifinal Today, while Ahly meet Revenue in the other semis.

Rwanda’s Revenue Authority made the competition biggest surprise as they upset the 2015 semifinalists Shams of Egypt 3-1 (25-21, 10-25, 29-27, 25-18) to become the first ever Rwandan team to quaify to the semifinal.

Defending champions Ahly came from a set behind 1-2 to beat the struggling GSP of Algeria 3-2 (32-30, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-6) in more than 2 hours of thrilling performance.

Record holders Pipeline of Kenya cruised past Sfax of Tunisia 3-1 (25-15, 25-14, 15-25, 25-17) to claim the third consecutive semifinal berth.

Organisers Carthage of Tunisia entertain their fans with a win against Kenya Prisons 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 25-27, 25-18) in the last of the quarters day.

Carthage attacks

Semifinal Programme On April 29
Semifinal 1-4
Revenue Authority (Rwanda) v Ahly (Egypt)
Carthage (Tunisia) v Pipeline (Kenya)

Play off 5-8
Prisons (Kenya) v Sfax (Tunisia)
Shams (Egypt) v GSP (Algeria)

Play off 9-12
Machaal Bejaia (Algeria) v FAP (Cameroon)
Injis (Cameroon) v Wilaya Bejaia (Algeria)

Play off 13-16
Jos South (Nigeria) v Bafia (Cameroon)
Ndejje (Uganda) v Police (Ghana)

Favourites Start Victorious At Women’s African Volleyball Club Championship

2016 Women’s African Volleyball Club Championship- Day 1

The victories for the defending champions Ahly of Egypt and heavy favourites Pipeline of Kenya highlighted the opening day of the 2016 Women’s African Club Championship which got underway in the Tunisian capital on Friday.

Ahly overcame Wilaya Bejaia of Algeria in a thrilling encounter 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-21) in Pool B, while the Kenyan Champions Pipeline flew past Ghana’s Police 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-17) in Pool C.

Organizers Carthage started their campaign aggressively as they hammered Ndejje of Uganda 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-14) in Pool A.

Dr Elwani with Gabon’s Ndella

In the other matches Tunisia’s Sfax upset Bafia of Cameroon 3-0 (25-6, 25-9, 25-17) in Pool B, Shams (EGY) crushed Gabon’s Ndella 3-0 (25-1, 25-8, 25-19) in Pool D which showed also the previous African champions Prisons beating Injis of Cameroon 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-23)

A Record Of 17 Teams Fight For The African Volleyball Queens Title

2016 Women’s African Club Championship- Drawing of lots

Tunis, Tunisia, April 21, 2016- Seventeen teams will battle it out for the 2016 Women’s African Club Championship when they start the programme on Friday making a great record of participating teams in the history of the competition since its beginning in 1986.

The drawing of lots was held on Friday in presence of CAVB President Dr Amr Elwani, Tunisia Volleyball President Mounir Benslimane and CAVB first vice president Mory Keita, where the participating teams were divided into 4 preliminary pools as follows:

2015 Gold medallists Ahly of Egypt.

Pool A: Carthage (Tunisia)- Ndejje (Uganda)- Revenue (Rwanda)- Mechaal Bejaia (Algeria)
Pool B: Ahly (Egypt)- Sfax (Tunisia)- Wilaya Bejaia (Algeria)- Bafia (Cameroon)
Pool C: Pipeline (Kenya)- FAP (Cameroon)- GSP (Algeria)- Police (Ghana)
Pool D: El Shams (Egypt)- Prisons (Kenya)- Ndella (Gabon)- Jos South (Nigeria)- Injis (Cameroon)

Among the favourites for the crown are Kenya’s Pipeline, defending champions Egypt’s Ahly with 7 titles each, followed by Prisons of Kenya with 5 cups under their name. 2015 Bronze medallists Carthage, Algeria’s GSP and Cameroon’s FAP are also among the strong teams of the competition.

Egypt Stun Nigeria, As Rwanda Makes It To Final Of CAVB Continental Cup

2016 CAVB Women’s Continental Cup

Egypt and Rwanda Beach Volleyball teams qualified for the finals of the 2016 CAVB Women’s Continental Cup following their ground breaking victories over hosts Nigeria and Mauritius in the semifinal face offs in Abuja, Nigeria on Saturday.

The winners Egypt and Rwanda meet on today in the final of the competition for the African slot to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, while Mauritius and Nigeria meet for the bronze medal.

Rwanda Make It To Final Of CAVB Continental Cup

Egypt pulled off arguably the most extraordinary CAVB Continental Cup victory of all time, stunning hosts Nigeria 2-1 to book their place in the Finals. It was the night Egypt removed the crown from Beach volleyball royalty. They did so with their own version of the beautiful game and, by the time they had finished, Nigeria had suffered a humiliation that was so extreme and implausible it felt as though a black marker pen had been taken to the pages of their Volleyball history.

The All African Games gold medalists started outstandingly with their team 1 beating Egypt team 2 2-0 (21-15, 21-15), however the result was not favorable for the host in the other game which the North Africans won 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 10-15). The semifinal was decided on the golden match and the host were humiliated 2-0 (21-12, 21-18).

Jabi Lake was full with local fans, cheering up the Nigerian team, but afterwards their tone changed as Egypt gradually takes it hard. This was not a team losing. It was a dream dying. There was anger, resentment and something approaching a full-on mutiny says a fan. Yet there was also an appreciation of what they were seeing.

Egypt Stun Nigeria, As Rwanda Makes It To Final Of CAVB Continental Cup

It was merely the final act of a match that will be forever remembered by all who witnessed it, and which leaves Nigerian players to wallow in misery and Egypt to plan a meeting with Rwanda.

Meanwhile Rwanda beat the 2012 African Representatives to the Olympics Mauritius 2-0 to advance to the finals. After beating big nations to the lead up to this final it was all set for them to redeem Rwanda’s image in the sport as a whole on the continent.

Muhammed L Saidykhan
from Abuja, Nigeria

Excitement looms in Abuja as teams gather for Women Continental Cup finals

The CAVB Continental Cup is down to the wire in the Nigerian Capital of Abuja on Thursday. Africa will on Sunday April 17 know which country will be the second since Continental cup was introduced in 2010 to travel to the Olympics Games when the City of Rio opens its doors for millions of athletes in June this year. 10 countries are currently converged in the Nigerian capital of Abuja for 4 days of excitement and for a search for an Olympic berth. 24 national federations have presented teams in both genders. This as accounted for an impressively great number of countries participating, this a massive increase since the maiden edition held in 2012 with Mauritius winning the inaugural edition in the Women’s event and South Africa in men category.

2016 CAVB Continental Cup

At the Technical meeting held at Starview Palace hotel in Abuja coaches and players express their readiness for the finals. The President of Nigerian Volleyball Federation Engineer Gumel welcomed the delegates to his country, the CAVB Executive vice-President went on further to thank and congratulate the athletes for coming this far in the competition. He Conveyed CAVB’s President Amr Elwani’s message to the delegates and urged the athletes to be good ambassadors of their countries.

The Director of Beach Volleyball at CAVB May Alaa, expressed her delight to journalists. She outlined the importance of the events and disclosed what the future holds for African beach volleyball. “Africa is blessed with physical strength, beautiful beaches and white sands and also with those who can promote the game of beach volleyball on our continent Alaa stressed

Mauritius represented Africa at 2012 London Olympic Games,

Competition Format

The 2016 continental cup Women’s final will be stiffly competed between 10 nations that is Host Nigeria, Mozambique, Mauritius, Egypt, Gambia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Morocco, Ghana and Namibia. Each pool is played in round robin format to determine places from 1 to 5.

Matches will be played according to the best of Three matches per tie, with best of three sets. The eventual winners of the finals will get the right to participate in the beach volleyball tournament of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. While the 2nd and 3rd National Federations will qualify to the FIVB World Olympic qualifications with all the Confederations, forming a total of 10 countries all competing for the last 2 places in the Rio Olympics Games.

Muhammed L Saidykhan
Abuja, Nigeria

Rwanda Beach VB Team Target Rio Olympics qualification

Rwanda Women Beach volleyball team as departed for Nigeria ahead of the Continental Cup scheduled for April 13–18 in Abuja. The competition also acts as third round qualifier for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The national team has been in intensive training in Rubavu District for the past two weeks under the close watch of head coach Paul Bitok and his assistant Christophe Mudahinyuka.

The team includes Rwanda Revenue Authority pair of Seraphine Mukantambara and Judith Hakizimana while Denyse Mutatsimpundu (APR) will partner with Charlotte Ndayisenga (Rwanda Revenue Authority).

“We are more than ready for the Continental Cup, which promises to be a good and exciting tournament. We know as players that we are in a crucial stage of the competition, we will need to focus on game by game,” said Charlotte Ndayisenga.

Rwanda were bronze medallists in the last All Africa Games.

Rwanda will meet Kenya, Sierra Leone, Morocco, Ghana and Namibia in Group B, while Group A is composed of Mozambique, Mauritius, Egypt, Gambia, Burkina Faso and hosts Nigeria.

Each pool play in a round robin format where the top 2 teams qualify to the semifinal. The third and fourth teams play for the 5 to 8 places, while as the 5th and 6th ranked teams play for the 9 to 12 places.

Peter Kamasa
Rwanda

Level I Beach Volleyball Course Wraps Up In Cape Verde

A five day international Level I coaching course on beach volleyball was recently held in Cape Verde. A record 26 coaches attended the program with Portuguese instructor Avelino Azevedo at Santa Maria beach

Speaking at the closing ceremony The President of Cape Verde Volleyball Federation Rodriguez Antonio Carlos, applauded FIVB for the timely consideration of enhancing the technical knowhow of the coaches.

“It is with pleasure that I congratulate you all for successfully participating in this 5 day intensive training program and I hope it will open a new shape in our new development blueprint.”

Building the skills and technical knowhow of coaches is the first step to success in sports and I hope you will share the knowledge leaned with those who don’t attend this course Carlos said.

Level I Beach Volleyball course wraps up in Cape Verde

In his closing remarks course instructor Avelino Azevedo thanked the participants for their cooperation and support and also urged them to be productive and be supportive to others especially the young beach volleyball players.

Recently Cape Verde has participated in the sub zonal continental cup qualifies in Dakar, Senegal but failed to progress.

Muhammed L Saidykhan
Gambia Press Officer