Day 4

Algeria Men and Women to Semifinal Spot, Cameroon women the big surprise

 Blida, Algeria, July 18, 2007-: the host teams Algeria, men and women as well as Cameroon women and Kenya men secured their semifinal tickets in Men’s and women’s categories at the end of the fourth day of the volleyball competition of the ninth All Africa Games here at both Moustafa Tchaker and Lysee Sportif halls in Blida, Algeria on Wednesday. The rest four semifinal slots in both men and women competitions will be determined in the final day of the preliminary round on Thursday with the matches of South Africa vs. Seychelles, Kenya vs. Egypt and Tunisia vs. Cameroon on the spot to determine the last two tickets in Women’s category, while the defending champions of the men‘s competition, Egypt needs a victory over Senegal to secure the last Men’s ticket and wait for the result of Tunisia vs. Cameroon.

 Algeria teams continued their clean sheet as they both achieved their fourth victory in a raw in their pool, while Tunisia men’s team took the revenge from Egypt who defeated them in the final of the last African nations championship in 2005 and archived a victory that secured their qualification leaving the defending champions struggling for the final men ticket in the semifinal. Kenya Men’s team proved their high motivations achieving their fourth victory. Cameroon women’s team was the star of the day as they defeated the reigning African champions Kenya in a fantastic face of.

Men’s Competition

 In Men’s competition, the defending champions Egypt lost their first match against the emerging Tunisia team who were better in all volley ball skills throughout the match in the biggest clash of the fourth competition day. Tunisia won easier than expected 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-19) in 69 minutes in pool B. The first set was competitive as it went point by point till the Tunisians used their middle blocker Bilel Ben Hassine to finalize the situation after Egypt lost two set points. In the second and third set Tunisia dominated the net and used their emerging opposite Tarek Sammari and the wing spiker Salem Mejri to score many points against the undisciplined Egyptian block. The Egyptian players also fell in many reception and digging mistakes to also their opponent to rebuild their attacks which ended the job as early as possible. The victory improved the Tunisian record to 4-0 to lead pool 4 by 8 points ahead of Egypt which retarded to the second position by a record of 3-1.

 Algerian men team energized by their excited spectators set easily their fourth victory in a raw over Ghana 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-18) in 71minutes to secure a slot to the semifinal in pool A. The host team used the big gun Mahdi Hachemi in spiking from position 2 and the high techniques of the setter Yassine Hakmi to bring the victory over the lest experienced Ghanaian team. The victory improved the Algerian record to 4-0, while Ghana became 0-4.

 Kenya proved themselves as a great favorite for the podium when they took over Congo 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-21) in 67 minutes in Pool A to secure the second ticket to semifinal from pool A. The Kenyans used their combinations by the net which was ended successfully through their spikers specially the match scorer Philip Mayo who scored 15 points and Elphas Biwott to win their fourth match in a raw without dropping a set. The victory raised the Kenyan record to 4-0 to lead the pool with 8 points. Congo dropped to 1-3.

 Nigeria men set their first victory in pool B over Senegal 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-10) in 63 minutes. The winners dominated the match trough their efficient spikes and better reception which allowed them to make the difference. Nigeria improved their record to 1-3 while Senegal dropped to 1-3.

  Cameroon men continued their victory rhythm in pool B and clinched their third victory over Botswana 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-22) aiming to compete for a semifinal slot in their last match against Tunisia on Thursday. Cameroon were the dominant team in all volleyball skills specially in the strong spiking through the wing spiker Constant Tchouassi who was his team best scorer with 13 points and also the usually efficient opposite Patrice Ndaki. Botswana team did well according to the capabilities of their players specially the match scorer Shadpack Kapeko who scored 14 points. The victory improved Cameroon record to 3-1, while Botswana dropped to 0-4.

 South African Men’s team clinched their second victory over Seychelles in Pool A 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-21) in 81 minutes. The winners were better in block and defense as they used their strong spiker Freedom Chiya to rebound after losing the first set to win three successive sets. Thokozani Ntuli was the best scorer in the south African team while Kishnan Chetty of Seychelles was the match scorer with 21 points and one of the match stars. The victory improved the record of South Africa to 2-2, while Seychelles dropped to 2-2 also.  

Women competition

 In Women’s competition, Algeria continued the victories and the attraction of the home spectators by their fourth win in a raw over South Africa 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-18) in 62 minutes. The opposite Lydia Oulmou and the wing spiker Faiza Tsabet showed again their consistency and played a good match that allowed their team to defeat a highly motivated team. Oulmou was the match scorer with 13 points. The victory raised the Algerian record to 4-0 and secured a semifinal slot from pool A. South Africa dropped to 2-1 and their final pool match against Seychelles on Thursday becomes very critical to determine the second ticket to semifinal from this pool.

  In the same Pool A, Seychelles swept Ghana 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-11) in one side game showing that the winners came here to compete for a semifinal ticket. The efficient spiker Annie Apasamy who was the match scorer with 13 points played a great role with the setter Dorothy Benoit. The victory raised Seychelles record to 2-1 in three matches and the total of 5 points. Ghana dropped to 0-3 to come at the bottom of the pool with 3 points.

 In Pool B Cameroon team played their utmost to bring a surprise victory over the reigning African champions 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-11) in a fantastic game lasting 97 minutes of thriller volleyball. The big Cameroonian victory was mainly due to the amazing performance of their star Rebecca Ngo who was the woman of the match and also the best scorer with a marvelous 32 points. She was aided also by the middle blocker Ruth Diboue who was the match best blocker and scored 17 points and succeeded to stop the Kenyan big hitters specially Docoras Ndasaba and Catherine Wanjiru. The victory was the fourth in a raw for Cameroon to secure a semifinal slot in the pool. They improved their record to 4-0 and lead solely ahead of the Kenyan team who suffered their first defeat and dropped to 3-1. 

 The defending champions Nigeria fought for 108 minutes to set their first victory over the last competition silver medalists, Egypt after a thriller tiebreaker 25-21, 22-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-13. The Egyptian team started the match in a good performance and used the strong attacker Injy El Shamy and the center Hagar Badr to lead 2-1 in sets. Nigeria came back in the suitable time and came form one set behind 1-2 to equalize the result in the fourth set and extend the match to tie break which was ended to the favor of the better Nigerians. Nigeria improved their record to 1-3 but lost the hopes of a semifinal ticker. Egypt dropped to 1-3 also.  

 Tunisia women regained the rhythm to clinch their third victory over Senegal in straight sets 25-18, 25-16, 27-25 in 60 minutes. Tunisia used their well known spikers Nihel El Ghoul and Hanen Ben Chaabene to penetrate the Senegal block and were better in the first and second sets enough to win easily. The third set showed improvement in Senegal block and backline defense led by the most prominent star Niane Diouk and were near to win the set before the more experienced Tunisians end the set narrowly 27-25. Tunisia becomes 3-1 in win loss ratio and regained the hopes of a semifinal ticket. Senegal dropped to 0-4 and comes at the bottom of the pool.  

Day 5 programme 19/07/2007

Hall Mustapha Tchaker                                           Hall Lyc้e Sportif

10H.00    49 D B Tunisia - Cameroon                          50 D B Senegal - Nigeria

12H.00    51 H A Congo – South Africa                      52 H B Nigeria - Botswana

14H.00    53 D B Kenya - Egypt                                  54 D A Ghana - Ethiopia

16H.00    55 H B Tunisia - Cameroon                          56 H A Seychelles - Ghana

18H.00    57 D A                                                          58 D A Seychelles - Afrique du

20H.00    59 H A Kenya – Algeria                               60 H B Senegal - Egypt